MIDIRS Essence > May 2009 > Midwifery News

Midwives – ‘Their incredible contribution should be applauded by government, the media and the community!’

Originally posted on May 2009

A report on the International Day of the Midwife 2009 by Elizabeth Duff, ICM Communications Manager.

I am writing this at the end of a busy week, as all the worldwide events associated with the International Day of the Midwife draw to a close. But already the news alerts are pouring in with reports of activities literally in every continent, bringing together midwives in the knowledge that on this one day at least they are ‘acting local, thinking global’. Here is just a flavour of what was happening on 5 May 2009.

In Australia there was a call from the Australian Nursing Federation for midwives to be better recognised because: ‘Their incredible contribution should be applauded by government, the media and the community!'

In Canada, midwives celebrated an announcement from the Saskatoon Health Region that 21 babies have been born since February when midwives’ services in this province were first paid for by health insurance. About half of those babies were born at home in the care of one of four legislated midwives. Cathy Chicoine, who was the first mother to deliver with the aid of legislated midwives, said midwifery is about ‘wholeness, community and well-being.’

Greetings were sent from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia from Jemima Dennis-Antwi, Regional Midwifery Adviser in Anglophone Africa for the ICM, who said ‘today we had a very successful event, launching the midwives’ programme and celebrating the midwife’. In attendance were representatives from UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO , and the Minister of State for Health who all pledged their unflinching support to the UNFPA/ICM programme and called for a strong collaboration with the Association to move the midwives’ issues forward.

In Ghana, the Registered Midwives Association took the opportunity of the day to call on government to open more midwifery education institutions and increase enrolment to meet the demand for midwifery services in the country. The National Secretary of GRMA, Esther Quaye-Kumah, said that in order to meet some of the health targets set by government, conscious efforts must be made to create awareness and interact with the public to know their needs and expectations.

The New Zealand Labour Party acknowledged the work of midwives on International Midwives Day, with Labour Health spokesperson Ruth Dyson referring to the ICM theme 'The World Needs Midwives - Now More Than Ever’, and asserting, ‘The New Zealand midwifery system is a world leader and it’s important to recognise the valuable work of these highly skilled individuals’.

In Pakistan, the Sindh Health Minister, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, spoke in Karachi, emphasising that midwives play an important role in the health delivery system and regretting that they were not given due attention in the past. He was addressing a seminar held to observe the International Day and the graduation ceremony of community midwives organised by the Maternal Neonatal and Child Health Programme, in collaboration with the Pakistan Initiative for Mother and Newborns.

The College of Midwives of Peru sent a worldwide message ‘Saluda y felicita a las matronas en su día’ – wishing health and happiness to midwives on this day. ‘This is a day of unity for all midwives, and simultaneously a day of reflection’. Their statement stressed the role of the midwife not only in the house, the hospital, the community, the clinic and more remote areas - but in civilization.

In Gizo, in the Solomon Islands, the hospital hosted a major function to mark the International Day. Western Province’s health director Dr Gunter Kittel said they have so far trained 24 midwives and are dedicated to more training. ‘Safe motherhood, with high quality antenatal and postnatal care, will remain a priority in our Primary Health Care’, said Director of Nursing Charles Sigoto, the first male midwife in the Solomon Islands, who also stressed the point that it is intended to post midwives not only at the hospital and area health centers but also at the rural health clinic level.

In Uganda, a woman MP Florence Nayiga, during celebrations of the International Day, has stated that the government currently allocates inadequate funds for reproductive health. This, she said, was responsible for the increasing maternal mortality rates. Speaking at Kayunga Hospital on Tuesday, Ms Nayiga pledged to lobby in Parliament and among development partners for more resources to be channelled to reproductive health.

Finally, in the UK, the Royal College of Midwives asked 24 of its branches across the country, representing the 24 hours of the day, to light 60 candles, symbolising the minutes of the hour. Each minute during the hour-long ceremony, a candle was blown out, showing how often a woman dies in childbirth worldwide.

The powerful message carried by this simple but poignant act of extinguishing a small, clear light was amplified by the ICM’s press release on the International Day of the Midwife. ICM President Bridget Lynch spelled out again the need for midwives to address the Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 – improving maternal health, reducing child mortality and combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. She said

‘Midwives are key healthcare providers in achieving MDG 5.That is the clear message coming from the WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank: the four UN agencies that have recently united to pledge increased support to countries with the highest maternal mortality rates. They identified mortality in pregnancy and childbirth as the “highest health inequity in the world with over 99% of deaths occurring in the developing world'.

‘The achievement of MDGs 4, 5 and 6 requires a global commitment to grow a strong, well educated midwifery workforce within functioning health service delivery systems. The world needs midwives – now more than ever!’

Elizabeth Duff | ICM Communications Manager

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