The situation is grave at the Ragama Teaching Hospital as nurses have totally sidelined midwives in labour room duties and at times had even threatened midwives to keep away from deliveries. This is a highhanded act and professional discrimination by nurses.

Midwives and nurses in government hospitals are on the warpath with each other over who should do what when it comes to the delivery of babies.

Midwives charge that their legitimate and customary duties have been usurped by nurses, thus violating the practice in medical treatment.

The 9,000 member strong Government Midwifery Services Association (GMSA) charged that nurses at several government hospitals have taken over the work of delivering babies at labour rooms which was traditionally and customarily done by midwives.

"The situation is grave at the Ragama Teaching Hospital as nurses have totally sidelined midwives in labour room duties and at times had even threatened midwives to keep away from deliveries. This is a high handed act and professional discrimination by nurses as midwives have attended to child deliveries even before the nursing profession came into being in the last century," GMSA Deputy General Secretary Devika Kodituwakku said. She said midwives popularly referred to as 'Winnamu Ammas' performed an important duty from ancient times by attending to child deliveries and they were adored and respected for the service they provided.

Ms. Kodituwakku said midwives are trained for six months on labour room duties and their main service involves deliveries and other duties in the labour room and as such the action of nurses was highly injustice.

She said the GMSA had decided to take stern trade union action if the nurses continued to 'harass' and 'discriminate' midwives in this manner. Midwives are trained specially for labour room duties. The nurses have been trained in labour room duties to assist midwives during an emergency. Ms. Kodituwakku said the government spends about Rs.880,000 to train a nurse in midwifery and only Rs.140,000 to train a midwife and as such the health ministry had to rethink its priorities on the training provided to health sector workers.

"Midwives must be given the opportunity to do their job which is legitimately theirs without pressure and discrimination," she said.

Mrs. Kodituwakku said the GMSA has written to health authorizes at the ministry and to directors of hospitals where midwifes had been reported.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka