Touted to be first of its kind in the country, the Telangana government had launched an 18-month Diploma in Midwifery for the BSc (Nursing) graduates at the 150-bed Mother and Child Care Hospital in Karimnagar town on Thursday.
The midwifery course was formally launched in Karimnagar hospital on Thursday. The course is one of the steps taken to encourage normal deliveries and reduce the Ceasarian section operations as the erstwhile Karimnagar district has the dubious distinction of topping in C-section deliveries in the country at 63 %, as per the National Family Health Survey.
The course was designed as per National Health Mission by the UNICEF and the Fernandez Hospital in Hyderabad. Each batch consists of 30 students and they would have theory classes for one-year and six months internship in the same hospital.
Later, they would be absorbed into government service and posted to various primary health centres in the state.
Minister for Health C. Laxma Reddy formally launched the course at the hospital in the presence of Karimnagar MP B. Vinod Kumar, MLC Naradasu Laxman Rao, ZP chairperson Tula Uma, legislator Gangula Kamalakar, Mayor S. Ravinder Singh, Commissioner for Health Vakati Karuna and Collector Sarfaraz Ahmad.
Speaking on the occasion, the Health Minister said that the Telangana government was first to utilise the opportunity to launch the Midwifery course announced by the Union government. The students who complete Midwifery course would play a crucial role in encouraging normal deliveries.
Explaining the importance of role of nurses in deliveries he clarified that “only trained nurses conduct deliveries in the hospitals and the doctor’s role is involved only if the case is complicated”. He claimed that the deliveries have doubled in government hospitals with the launch of KCR kits.
Karimnagar MP Vinod Kumar said that the Union government had sanction Diplomate in National Board (DNB) courses at the government headquarters hospital in Karimnagar from January 2018.
