‘OVER 9, 000 MIDWIVES JOBLESS’

‘OVER 9, 000 MIDWIVES JOBLESS’ By JULIET MAKWAMA OVER 9, 000 trained midwives are jobless, says the Midwives Association of Zambia (MAZ). The association is concerned that the limited number of midwives continues to affect service delivery as the demand for maternity continues to increase. The association’s President, Ms Sara Ngoma said the health service had qualified midwives working as nurses who have not been promoted to midwives, a situation that was worsening the already limited numbers of midwives in the country. Ms Ngoma said the shortage had been a long standing issue that need to be resolved as a matter of urgency so that quality was retained in the health facilities. She said last year’s gap of about 9, 000 midwives had been worsened with more demand saying that more than 9, 000 midwives were needed. Ms Ngoma said there were a lot of qualified midwives who had been stuck in same positions because the government did not have money for promotions. She said some nurses had upgraded their qualifications to midwifery but were still classified as nurses as Government did not have the financial muscle to meet extra obligations. “If a nurse trains as a midwife and upgrades her qualification even her emoluments must change but there are a lot of midwives working as nurses,” said Ms Ngoma.