Abstract:
Before the introduction of conventional midwifery, Traditional Birth
Attendants (TBAs) or indigenous midwives were the only maternal healthcare
providers. With the introduction of conventional midwifery came the
introduction of policies to scrutinize the practices of TBAs. These policies
depicted efforts to ban TBAs and eradicate the reliance of pregnant women on
TBAs. No research has explored policies affecting TBAs and how they
affected their status as the original providers of maternal healthcare. This
thesis historicized the policies affecting TBA practices from 1931 when the
Midwives Ordinance was passed, to 1992, when the National Reorientation
project for TBAs ended. Using archival documents including official
government documents such as legislative debates, annual reports and policy
briefs amongst others, this research has shown that the policy that affected
indigenous midwives or TBAs during the colonial and postcolonial period
mainly sought to gradually remove them from the system, to allow a
dependence on conventional healthcare. These policies affected the roles that
TBAs played over the years, and also caused certain undesirable perceptions
about TBA practices. However, TBAs could not be removed from the system
due to the inability of the government to provide conventional healthcare to all
areas in Ghana. TBA reorientation and inclusion into the formal healthcare
system became necessary for the government to use already available
resource. In rolling out these reorientation programmes however, the
government and policy makers failed to consider the social and cultural
dispositions of TBAs.
