A Principal Midwifery Officer, Mrs Leticia Asaaba Atiah, has been elected the new president of the National Association of Registered Midwives (NARM) GH.
She polled 84 votes to defeat the incumbent, Mary Ofoso, who secured 80 votes at a keenly contested election held during the national delegates’ conference of the association in Kumasi here on Thursday.
Mrs Atiah, who holds a Bachelar of Science Degree in Midwifery from the University of Health and Allied Science (UHAS), brings to the Association 20 years working experience as a practicing midwife.
In her victory speech, she urged her colleagues to put the election behind them and unite and co-operate to move the Association forward.
Mrs Atiah said the midwifery profession played a major role in the country’s health care delivery system and “no effort should be spared to make this a reality.”
She further explained that “where there are no obstetrician gynaecologist, they play such roles to save the lives of mothers and babies.”
“Midwifery is a different profession and, therefore, needs to be independent and have a bargaining certificate for fair negotiations in order to reduce midwives contemplating on embarking on strikes,” she stated.
According to her, “midwives manage two or more lives at a time, therefore negotiation is the way to go rather than strike.”
In this connection, she promised to revisit the issue of the bargaining certificate for midwives to give them voice to enable them to bargain for improved better conditions of service.
She promised to organise training programmes to sharpen the skills of midwives in order to help reduce maternal mortality in the country.
Additionally, Mrs Atiah underlined that the 2024 maternal mortality rate of 862 per 100,000 live birth was highly unacceptable and efforts must be made to reduce it further.
The president said the midwifery profession was a noble one and that she would work towards ensuring that the integrity of midwives was guaranteed.
Mrs Atiah commended the government for the “Mahama care initiative to take care of non-communicable diseases across the country.”
She appealed to the government to purchase more ambulances to be placed at remote and rural communities to promptly convey pregnant women with complications to hospitals in order to reduce maternal deaths.
FROM TIMES REPORTER, KUMASI
