Collaborative design of a health research training programme for nurses and midwives in Tshwane district, South Africa: a study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Nurses are essential for implementing evidence-based practices to improve patient outcomes. Unfortunately, nurses lack knowledge about research and do not always understand research terminology. This study aims to develop an in-service training programme for health research for nurses and midwives in the Tshwane district of South Africa. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol outlines a codesign study guided by the five stages of design thinking proposed by the Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. The participants will include nurses and midwives at two hospitals in the Tshwane district, Gauteng Province. The five stages will be implemented in three phases: Phase 1: Stage 1-empathise and Stage 2-define. Exploratory sequential mixed methods including focus group discussions with nurses and midwives (n=40), face-to-face interviews (n=6), and surveys (n=330), will be used in this phase. Phase 2: Stage 3-ideate and Stage 4-prototype. A team of research experts (n=5), nurses and midwives (n=20) will develop the training programme based on the identified learning needs. Phase 3: Stage 5-test. The programme will be delivered to clinical nurses and midwives (n=41). The training programme will be evaluated through pretraining and post-training surveys and face-to-face interviews (n=4) following training. SPSS V.29 will be used for quantitative analysis, and content analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The protocol was approved by the Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee of the University of Pretoria (reference number 123/2023). The protocol is also registered with the National Health Research Database in South Africa (reference number GP_202305_032). The study findings will be disseminated through conference presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Childbirth Preparation: Knowledge of the Use of Non-Pharmacological Pain Relief Methods during Childbirth in Tshwane District, South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Effective management of labour pain is an essential aspect of care provided to women during childbirth. The aim of this study was to assess pregnant women's knowledge of using non-pharmacological pain relief methods during childbirth. Methods: This quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at four hospitals in the Tshwane District of South Africa. The sample consisted of 384 pregnant women. Results: The results show that (n = 200, 52.1%) pregnant women lack knowledge regarding non-pharmacological pain relief methods, while a minority (n = 101, 26.3%) had some knowledge, some (n = 73, 19%) were uncertain about these methods and others (n = 10, 2.6%) did not comment. Additionally, most respondents (n = 232, 60%) never received education about the various methods available to manage pain during labour at antenatal care, while others (n = 131, 34%) agreed that they received such education. A significant relationship between the level of education and knowledge about non-pharmacological pain relief methods was noted (p = 0.0082). In conclusion, respondents knew methods such as massage, breathing exercises, movements and birth positions. However, they lacked knowledge of birth companionship, acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), aromatherapy and music. The overall findings revealed that antenatal care services provided by midwives are not effectively preparing pregnant women for pain relief during childbirth.

Recognise and Acknowledge Us: Views of Traditional Birth Attendants on Collaboration with Midwives for Maternal Health Care Services.

Background: Traditional birth attendants have since ancient time provided care to pregnant women. As such, the collaboration between midwives and traditional birth attendant (TBAs) can be an essential effort towards the reduction of the maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity rate especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper argues that the collaboration between traditional and formal health systems expands the reach and improves outcomes of community health care. The study is aimed at exploring the traditional birth attendant's views on collaboration with midwives for maternal health care services at selected rural communities in South Africa (SA). Methods: The study was conducted in two rural communities in Tshwane and Johannesburg metropolitan districts from 15 June to 31 October 2021. The study followed the qualitative explorative and descriptive research design. The sampling technique was nonprobability purposive, and snowballing technique was also used to sample the key informants who are the traditional birth attendants also known as traditional healers and who provide maternal health care services in the respective communities. The access to these participants was through the gatekeepers, the Traditional Health Organisation Council (THO) council. Data collection was through semistructured in-depth interviews. Data were analysed thematically through the eight steps of Tesch. Results: Five main themes were identified which included the recognition of traditional birth attendants as enablers of collaboration, the envisaged value of the collaboration, processes required to foster collaboration, repositioning for new roles, and barriers to collaboration. Conclusion: The TBAs are ready to collaborate with the formal health care system, and all they require is for their services to maternal health care to be recognised and acknowledged.