Postpartum Tubal Ligation by Nurse-Midwives in Thailand: A Field Trial

In 1979 a pilot study was conducted by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand in which five nurse-midwives with operating-room experience were trained to perform postpartum tubal ligation by a minilaparotomy. The performance of the trained nurse-midwives was compared with that of doctors in a controlled, randomized clinical trial. The result suggested that trained nurse-midwives can safely perform postpartum tubal ligation. In this study an expanded field trial of a nurse training program was carried out by the Ministry of Public Health to further evaluate the replicability of the training program in provincial settings. The acceptability of the program among subjects and doctors was also investigated.