A fifteen-day training on the use of partograph for over one hundred midwives from different health centres and hospitals in the country, last Friday ended at the boardroom of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) in Banjul.

The training was organised by the Sheikh Abdullah Jah Charitable Foundation, with support from the Islamic Development Bank in collaboration with the Western Region Health Office and RVTH.  The training was aimed at reducing the infant and maternal mortality rate in the country.

Abdoulie Sankareh, regional health director for Western Region said capacity building is essential to keep people abreast of developments affecting their careers. He observed that training the midwives on the use of the partograph will go a long way in reducing infant mortality in the country. According to him, since the introduction of the partograph in the country last year, there has been a significant drop in the number of deaths especially during birth.

Sankareh then used the platform to challenge the trained midwives to adequately disseminate the knowledge gained from the training to their colleagues. Dr Bekai Camara, lead consultant of the project, said the use of partograph has indeed improved well in The Gambia but has not been well known to people. The partograph, he said, will reduce the rate of prolonged labour, which he described as disastrous.

He urged the midwives to make the information from the training practicable at the various health centres and hospitals so as to reduce the infant mortality rate. For Professor Dr Omar Jah Senior, the training of the midwives will help lower infant mortality rate in the country. The foundation, according to him, had participated in funding fifty midwives. Other speakers at the ceremony included Dr Tamsir Mbowe and Dr Omar Jah Junior.