Training and education in perinatal and neonatal care

The Health Services program in Maharashtra, India has admirable plans, ideas, policies, and strategies for training and education in perinatal and neonatal care, but has not been able to implement them adequately. Therefore managers should undergo training to learn workable skills to effectively supervise and guide the maternal and child health (MCH) component of the program. Recognizing the inability to reach all women, despite the wish to do so, MCH services now concentrate their efforts to cover 100% of primigravidas and 1st born children. They have been neglected when MCH services attempted to provide health care for everyone. This approach reduces the workload of MCH personnel. Further, it allows for more time to educate mothers on prenatal care and care for their 1st child. This approach may encourage these mothers to seek care during subsequent pregnancies. Since age of marriage and female education play important roles in perinatal mortality, MCH workers educate the community about them. Specifically, they provide population education to females 12-24 years old. Health services need to train MCH workers from physicians to health workers at post partum centers. Presently training is done by individual institutions, but an integrated program needs to be created. Staff in institutions that provide MCH services should develop effective aids, however, before adequate training begins. MCH services emphasize quality in providing immunization (100 Point Programme) thereby building credibility and attracting more people to be immunized. Maharashtra state has developed a monitoring plan to evaluate MCH services and devise appropriate interventions. No studies had yet been conducted as of 1989.