4284.0: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - Board 4

Abstract #27945

Effectiveness of traditional birth attendants

Lynn M. Sibley, CNM, PhD, Department of Global Outreach, American College of Nurse-Midwives, 818 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 728-9864, lsibley@acnm.org

TBAs remain a major workforce in maternity care in developing countries. Yet, after more than three decades, evidence in support of TBA training is still limited. Although TBAs have been shown to favorably impact neonatal mortality, their current impact on reducing maternal mortality is uncertain. A meta-analysis of TBA training effectiveness has been conducted to determine the effect of training on TBAs and on pregnancy outcomes.

Documents published or written between 1974 and 1997 were admitted into the meta-analysis as a result of the five-staged literature search strategy and review process. A total of 4 TBA attributes (knowledge, attitude, behavior, advice) and 23 MCH content areas were investigated, as well as maternal and newborn outcomes.

Six separate coding forms were developed to code 147 substantive, methodological, and outcome variables. Effect size coding and calculations were performed. The majority of the outcome variables are reported as proportions, thus effect sizes were calculated using the arcsine transformation. An unweighted effect size mean, as well as an n-adjusted effect size mean, for each category of outcome variable were calculated. Homogeneity tests were conducted on the distributions of effect sizes to check for variability. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore variability in effect size distributions.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: -Discuss the effectiveness of traditional birth attendant(TBA) training on pregnancy outcomes -Identify the literature relevant to TBA training -Utilize the results of a meta-analysis of TBA training to inform policy decisions regarding future TBA training -Identify gaps in the literature of TBA training evaluation -Describe the quality of the literature evaluating the effectiveness of training TBA's

Keywords: International MCH, Reproductive Health Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: American College of Nurse-Midwives PRIME Community Partnerships for Safe Motherhood
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Handout (.doc format, 971.0 kb)

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA