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Ghana

The State of the World's Midwifery 2014

Click on a country or territory or select from drop down list

What women and newborns need (2012)

1,063,000 PREGNANCIES A YEAR = HOW MANY EPISODES OF CARE
Ghana - Number and distribution of pregnancies (2012)
Number and distribution of pregnancies (2012)
0
<0.09
0.10-0.19
0.20-0.49
0.50-0.99
1.00-1.49
1.50-1.99
2.00-2.49
2.50-10.00
>10.00
APPROX
PRE-PREGNANCY
(all women of reproductive age)
=
12,869,000
family planning visits
ANTENATAL
(pregnancies x 4)
=
4,253,000
routine visits
BIRTH
=
814,000
skilled birth attendance
POST-PARTUM
(births x 4)
=
3,257,000
routine visits
POSTNATAL
(newborns x 4)

Workforce availability (2012)

Country classification of star working in MNH
Time spent on MNH %
Midwives
4,185
100
Midwives, auxiliary
na
na
Nurse-midwives
na
na
Nurses
273
80
Nurses or nurse- midwives, auxiliary
na
na
Clinical ocers & medical assistants
na
na
Physicians, generalists
1,123
-
Obstetricians & gynaecologists
549
-
PRE-PREGNANCY
ANTENATAL
BIRTH
POST-PARTUM
POSTNATAL
ESTIMATED MET NEED=
30%
workforce time available
workforce time needed
Estimate of met need (national aggregate) based on available data

Geographic accessibility

Number of births with a skilled birth attendant (SBA) 2

Accessed a SBA
Did not access a SBA
No data on rural/urban SBA

MIDWIFERY EDUCATION 3

Minimum high-school requirement to start training
Grade 12 and above
Years of study required to qualify (rounded)
3
Standardized curriculum? Year of last update
Yes , 2013
Minimum number of supervised births in curriculum
40
Number of 2012 graduates/as % of all practising midwives
1146 / 27
% of graduates employed in MNH within one year
100

MIDWIFERY REGULATION

Legislation exists recognizing midwifery as an autonomous profession
Yes
A recognized definition of a professional midwife exists
Yes
A government body regulates midwifery practice
Yes
A licence is required to practise midwifery
Yes
A live registry of licensed midwives exists
Yes
Number of EmONC basic signal functions that midwives are allowed to practise (out of a possible 7)
7
Midwives allowed to provide injectable contraceptives/intrauterine devices
Yes /Yes

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS 4

Year of creation of professional associations
1935, 1960, 2009
Roles performed by professional associations:
Continuing professional development
Yes
Advising or representing members accused of misconduct
Yes
Advising members on quality standards for MNH care
Yes
Advising the Government onpolicy documents related to MNH
Yes
Negotiating work or salary issues with the Government
Yes
na = not applicable; - = missing data

PROJECTED NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES BY YEAR: URBAN VS. RURAL

ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS TO 2030

WHAT IF... Estimates of met need based on available data.

1
The number of pregnancies was reduced by 20% by 2030?
1.1 million
CURRENT
0.91 million
SCENARIO

Immediate increase in met need for pregnancy, birth, post-partum/postnatal care. Acceleration in met need for pre- pregnancy services from 2028 onwards.

2
The number of midwife, nurse and physician graduates doubled by 2020?
CURRENT
81 % MET NEED 2030
SCENARIO
99 % MET NEED 2030
3
Efficiency improved by 2% per year until 2030?
CURRENT
81 % MET NEED 2030
SCENARIO
99 % MET NEED 2030
4
Attrition was halved in the next 5 years (2012-2017)?
4 % leak
CURRENT
81 % MET NEED 2030
2 % leak
SCENARIO
94 % MET NEED 2030

CURRENT TRAJECTORY

81 % MET NEED 2030

WHAT IF... TRAJECTORY

100 % MET NEED 2030
1. These health worker categories include the following country titles - Midwives: includes midwives, community health nurse midwives; Nurses: includes district public health nurses; Generalist physicians: Includes generalist physicians; Obstetricians & gynaecologists: includes obstetricians & gynaecologists Source: SoWMy 2014 or secondary sources (WHO Global Health Observatory; government policy documents).
2. Year of data is as per most recent data available in STATCOMPILER.
3. Information refers to the midwife cadre. Information for number of 2012 graduates/as % of all practising midwives refers to the midwife and community health nurse midwife cadres.
4. National associations for midwifery and nursing.