Indonesia as the second most populous country in Asia and the fourth largest in the
world is still facing serious problems in qualified health workers’ availability. This
phenomenon causes the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and the Neonatal Mortality
Rate (NMR) remained to be high. The MMR in Indonesia is 359 per 100,000 live births,
and the NMR is 19 per 1000 live births. One of the reasons why the MMR and the NMR
are still high is related to the lack of maternity facility, especially in rural areas, and the
lack of health workers who will help the delivery.
One type of health worker in the rural areas in Indonesia is a Traditional Birth
Attendants (TBAs). The TBA refers to a person who assists the mother during childbirth
and who initially acquired her skills by delivering babies herself or through an
apprenticeship to other TBAs. TBAs are usually older women, learning the skills through
their seniors, and appreciated in society for their knowledge and experience.
Women’s reproductive health, maternal mortality, and neonatal mortality are
several health problems associated with TBAs. To address the problems, the Indonesian
government established a program called Midwives and TBAs Partnership Program in
Indonesia. Under this program, midwives are required to educate TBAs in order to
support the roles of village midwife. Even though Midwives and TBAs Partnership
Program has been established more than seven years, the Government of Indonesia does
not have national guidelines for this program. For that reason, the purpose of this
capstone is to develop national guidelines for midwives to conduct TBAs’ training. By
having a national guideline, the midwives across the country have standard operating
procedure to conduct the training. The training guidelines will be organized into three
parts: preparations and needs assessment; interventions; and evaluations