Summary

Formed in 1935, Ghana’s Registered Midwives Association is an NGO that aims to promote and protect the interest and welfare of midwives. The organization provides integrated services for ensuring accessibility of reproductive healthcare and child survival services through community mobilization and collaboration with health delivery system partners throughout Ghana. Currently, there are 556 midwives in GRMA, 55% private sector and 45% public sector with all 10 regions of Ghana represented.

Program goals

Overarching Objectives:

• To advance the provision of maternal care and to develop the role of the midwife as a professional practitioner
• To raise the standard of practice of midwifery in Ghana by organizing capacity building training programs

• To promote and protect the interest and welfare of midwives in their practice
• To promote mutual respect, goodwill, and understanding among midwives and between midwives and the community
• To advise and articulate the opinions and wishes of midwives on matters pertaining to the efficient, orderly, and peaceful practice of their profession
• To encourage, educate, and motivate women and families to seek professional medical attention
• To monitor, evaluate, and conduct research into programs of interest to the Association
• To publish journals, pamphlets, monographs, report of conferences, seminars, discussions, visits, and other papers relevant to the aims of the Association
• To project the image of the association internationally through participation at international conferences and contributions bodies such as the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)

Additionally, the organization seeks to increase the enrollment of public sector midwives, to provide a facility for training/conferences of midwives in Accra, and to launch a website for disseminating information on midwifery practices in Ghana. 

Key program components

GRMA provides a platform of collaboration and continuity for midwives in order to ensure accessibility of reproductive and childhood healthcare services for all communities in Ghana. The organization encourages midwives to establish private maternity homes for increased community accessibility and to allow training of student midwives within these homes. GRMA also provides technical support to private sector midwives to ensure quality services. By engaging in midwife capacity building both in the public and private sector, the Association seeks to improve the knowledge and skills of midwives in order to enhance quality of care nationally.

GRMA promotes the expansion of the role of the midwife by increasing routine services a midwife provides to include Post Abortion Care, Syndromic Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and HIV/AIDS. Its private sector members have also added adolescent reproductive health and management of menopausal clients to their lists of services. The Association also ensures rural midwives are trained to manage childhood infections effectively.

The Association also maintains an excellent relationship with international organizations such as ICM, FIGO. The organization also contributes to progress made in the area of family planning in Ghana.