Assess the Effectivness of Training Programme on Auxiliary Nurse Midwives Related to New Born Care

Health promotion moves beyond changing the health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of individuals and covers a wide range of social and environmental interventions. Nepal has also introduced health promotion policies targeting health education, information and communication. Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), who are responsible for delivering primary care maternity services, especially in birthing centres located in rural areas of Nepal, also have an important role to play in the promotion of women’s health during pregnancy, intra-partum and post-partum. However, in the present context, health promotion provided by ANMs in Nepal is confined mostly to health education and behavioural-change communication. There are a range of health promotion activities relevant to maternity care and midwifery that ANMs can practice even in low-technology rural birthing centres. Such health promotion offers an opportunity to move away from a very medical and behavioural model to a more empowering one in order to prevent health problems in a cost-effective way.

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The cutting edge in the blunt space: an anthropological construct of auxiliary nurse midwives’ social world in the community

Healthcare in Low-resource Settings ◽

10.4081/hls.2013.e10 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Avanish Kumar ◽

Meerambika Mahapatro

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Health Providers ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Auxiliary Nurse ◽

Nurse Midwives ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Child Health Programme ◽

Health Programme

Auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) are the most peripheral health providers and manage the rural health sub-centre in a community. They mediate directly between the community and the health system for the management of Maternal and Child Health Programme in India. The purpose of this study was to find out the role of cultural factors, such as ANMs’ caste, age, marital status, being non-resident in the working village and other social factors regarding their acceptance in the community. The study is exploratory and qualitative. The area of study was a multi-caste remote village, Mavaibhachan, in Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and fieldwork notes taken during and immediately after the interviews with ANMs, and thematically analyzed. Our results show that if ANMs belong to a different caste group, do not live in the working village and are relatively younger, they are socially insecure and stressed and the community hardly accepts them. Despite direct interface with the community, their social status and lowest position in the health system is reflected in acceptability and recognition. The position of ANMs needs to be strengthened, within society and the health system. In order to make public health services effective and efficient the health system has to reduce stratification based on role and status.

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