No transfer of nurses in labour wards for two years

In line with the guidelines laid down under the National Health Mission, the department of health and family welfare has said nurses working in labour wards and those assisting in 'C' sections will not be transferred for a minimum of two years.

This is one of the measures that the state is taking towards bringing down maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) in the state, according to a circular. The department has said that they invest so much on their training. Transferring them from OTs will only affect nursing and care of newborns.

Under the National Health Mission, the government is expected to provide Respectful Maternity Care and nurses ought to undergo adequate training and have a certain number of years of experience to be able to work in the labour ward or assist in performing safe delivery.

In Karnataka, the infant mortality is at 24 for every 1,000 live births and maternal mortality is 70 for every one lakh, according to statistics provided by the department of health and family welfare.

Dr Prabhakar T S, director, department of health and family welfare, told DH that this was to ensure that only nurses with experience attend to maternity cases.

Auxiliary Midwife Nurses are posted in rural areas and are on field duty. There are 24*7 primary health centres in the state where nurses are trained to conduct normal delivery procedures.

"The idea is to ensure that we have only experienced hands there. Nurses are transferred and sometimes, they are shifted to other departments. Since the idea is to bring down IMR and MMR to single digits, we need them to conduct safe deliveries. In case there is excessive bleeding or other complications, they will have hands-on experience to give necessary aid," he said.