Sixty-one traditional birth attendants residing in the southern sector of Zimbabwe were interviewed concerning their midwifery practice. Traditional midwives were interviewed individually to gather information concerning: (a) the development of traditional midwifery skills, (b) the nature of traditional birthing patterns, (c) the features of the one-week midwifery training program provided to upgrade traditional midwives, and (d) traditional midwifery as practiced today, post the one-week training program. In describing past and present traditional midwifery, they reported a change in the use of sanitation practices, a heightened understanding of at-risk pregnancies and the need for formal medical intervention, and the adoption of mechanisms to record new births.
PIP: Since the early 1980s, midwives in Zimbabwe have been enrolled in a 1-week training program focused on normal and high-risk childbirth. In 1992, 61 trained rural midwives (mean age, 59.9 years) from the Ndebele ethnic group in southern Zimbabwe were interviewed about changes in their practice resulting from the training. The majority of respondents (96.7%) indicated they had learned midwifery skills from their mother, grandmother, or grandmother-in-law. Training-related changes reported included increased understanding of the importance of a hygienic environment for delivery, attempts to work with pregnant women early in their pregnancies rather than only after labor had started, referral of potential high-risk births to the clinic, collaboration with clinic nurses, and institution of record keeping. The training program has enabled midwives to maintain harmless traditional practices (e.g., the ritual burying of the placenta) while abandoning those that are unhygienic (e.g., placing cow dung around the mother and newborn). About 50-60% of all practicing traditional midwives in Zimbabwe have participated in this training.