Health Department to establish Midwifery Training Institute in Patiala : Chetan Singh Jauramajra

The Minister said that this  institute is being set up as per the Indian government's “Guidelines on Midwifery Services in India” to prioritize investment in a dedicated cadre of professional midwives called  Nurse Practitioner in Midwifery (NPM). He said that this is one of the 16 Training institutes across India where training would be provided to Midwife Educators who, in turn, would develop the cadre of NPM. Punjab is third state after Maharashtra and UP to Start this National Midwifery Training Institute in government sector.

The Minister said that Midwifery led care is a paradigm shift which can address many issues that our state faces in terms of MCH services. Punjab MMR has also increased in recent times due to covid-19 pandemic when all resources were diverted toward covid. MMR in Punjab currently stands at 114 as per the latest SRS data released in March 2022. Bringing midwifery practices to the centre stage will not only help to reduce the MMR but also improve the quality of care around childbirth and decongest higher levels of facilities.

Disclosing more about this new initiative Health and Family Welfare Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra stated that one National Midwifery Training Institute (NMTI) has been commissioned at the Mata Kaushalya School of Nursing at Patiala. The institute is selected as one of the NMTIs because of its state-of-art training infrastructure, access to a functional Obstetric department at its parent hospital, attached high load clinical practice site, and its willingness to initiate a new course.

It is envisioned that the National Midwifery Training Institute at Patiala will serve as model teaching institute and pedagogic resource centre for the midwifery training for several states.For the trainings of Midwifery Educators at this school of nursing, three International Midwifery Educators from New Zealand, England and Kenya have also been brought in by the State Government in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund, who will teach first batch of 30 for a 18 month course.It is pertinent to mention here that the first batch has already been started since September 21, 2022.

Director Health Services (Family Welfare) Dr. Ravinderpal Kaur stated that this initiative will lead to a compassionate and respectful birth experience for a pregnant woman in government health facilities. Under this program a Midwifery led care unit (MCLU) will be established near the labour room of a health facility and first such unit in the state will come up at Mata Kaushalaya Hospital Patiala.NPM will provide skilled , maternal, reproductive and newborn child-related health care services in a respectful manner to accomplish the sustainable development goals for maternal and newborn.