According to the Government of India Guidelines, March 2008 – A Skilled Birth Attendant (SBA) is defined as “an accredited health professional – such as midwife, doctor or nurse – who has been educated and trained to achieve proficiency in the skills needed to manage normal (uncomplicated) pregnancies, childbirth and immediate postnatal period and in the identification, management and referral of complications in women and newborns.”
Government of India considers the “Skilled Birth Attendant” as a person who can handle common obstetric and neonatal emergencies, recognize when the situation reaches a point beyond his/her capability and refers the woman or the newborn to a FRU/appropriate facility without delay (Reference: Government of India Guidelines For ANC and Skilled Attendance at Birth by ANMs and LHVs). Government of India has taken policy initiatives to empower the ANMs/LHVs/SNs to make them competent for undertaking certain life-saving measures. These measures are as follows: permission to use uterotonic drugs for prevention of PPH; permission to use drugs in emergency situations prior to referral for stabilizing the patient; and permission to perform basic procedures at community level in emergency situations. (Source- https://nhm.gov.in/images/pdf/guidelines/nrhm-guidelines/sba_guildelines_final_unfpa.pdf)
In this module candidates learn skills to conduct a normal delivery, recognize complications, manage as per scope of practice and refer, if needed, as per the government guidelines.