The maternal health media fellowships being implemented by PSAf in Malawi have helped bring out key issues on the key role being played by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in supporting expecting mothers with safe delivery.

There are still a lot of grey areas in terms of how they carry out some of their procedures. While experts have called on the government to ensure a complete abolition of the services of TBAs, a fraction of the population is advocating for the development of formal systems to train and enhance the capacity of TBAs. They feel training will enable the TBAs to harmonise their services with those of conventional and public health facilities. 

Those vouching for the formal engagement of TBAs have backed their arguments with examples of TBAs who have a clean record. One such is Charity Salima, who was at some point described as “an angel to most Malawi women who have delivered at her hands, none of whom has been lost both mother and baby”. 

The articles have also looked at issues of illegal abortions in Malawi, and whether or not the government should legalise abortion. Again, the stories have looked at the pros and cons of the practice, as well as the socio-cultural implications. 

These are some of the debates that are being captured through the PSAf maternal health media fellowships. Journalists who are participating in the PSAf fellowships have risen to the occasion to champion the debate on maternal health in Malawi. Following a PSAf media training in reporting development on maternal health and such cross cutting issues like gender, education for girls, and access to justice for women and girls, there has been a significant increase in media coverage of maternal health issues. By the end of August, the journalists had produced the following media outputs through various institutions: nine (9) radio programmes of 15-30 minutes, four (4) short radio magazine documentaries and nine (9) print features.

PSAf regional manager for Media Development and ICTs, Gillies Kasongo pointed out that because of the evident impact of the training, the Malawi office of UK Department for International Development (DFID Malawi) has offered to support the training of an additional 12 reporters before the end of the year. PSAf is already working on a plan to produce an additional 36 print articles and radio programmes. 

After the fellowships, PSAf will produce a publication with synopses of all the published articles and broadcast programmes. The publication will have expert critique of the whole process of sensitising reporters and editors, giving them logistical support to do in-depth stories, publish them and follow up on feedback from consumers of these.