Midwives from six countries endorse plans for strengthening midwifery to save tne lives of mothers and newborns in South Asia

Over fifty midwives from six South Asian countries exchanged experiences to build a strong midwifery workforce and midwifeiy services across South Asia to achieve MDGs 4,5 and 6 by 2015. The workshop focussed on the three pillars of a strong healthcare workforce: midwifeiy education, association and regulation as key components of quality midwifery care to reduce maternal and newborn deaths and morbidity.

The five-day workshop (20-24 March 2010) was jointly organized by the United aaNations Population Fund (UNFPA); the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), and BRAC. It was the first meeting ever of its kind in South Asia and addressed the nurse midwife multipurpose worker issue within national plans in the region.

This meeting lays the groundwork of the global Investing in Midwives Programme’ being launched by the ICM and UNFPA in 2010 in South Asia.Three out of five women giving birth in South Asia do so without a midwife or other skilled birth attendant on hand, a major reason why some 44 Ser cent of maternal eaths worldwide occur in the subregion.The strategic planning workshop aimed at identifying existing gaps and challenges in the areas of midwifery education, The strategic planning workshop aimed at identifying existing gaps and challenges in the areas of midwifery education, association and regulation and developing country and regional level strategies for addressing these by involving all relevant partners and stakeholders. Participants represented midwifery associations and nursing councils from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

Senior officials from Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, midwifery educators from the region and programme managers from UNFPA, the World Health Organization and ICM also took part. At the meeting, there was broad agreement that midwifeiy needed strengthening through improved education, association and regulation which protects midwives as distinct healthcare professionals. As Mrs Bridget Lynch, President of ICM noted, “Midwifeiy has been neglected for several decades in this region of the world which needs it most. It is time that this profession be recognized once again as the best form of care for mothers and their newborns.”

Key recommendations include establishment of degree programmes in midwifeiy, accreditation of all midwifery education programmes, and regulation of midwives in all countries.

Director General of Health Services in Bangladesh, Prof. Shah Monir Hossain, present during the inauguration mentioned that in Bangladesh, where over 80% deliveries are done at home, there is urgent need to develop a good cadre of midwives to address the high number of maternal and newborn deaths in the country. Midwives working at health facilities and attending home deliveries are central in saving the lives of mothers and newborns, by providing basic emergency obstetric care and timely referrals when hospital services are required. They also help families make informed choices about preventing unwanted pregnancies. The whole endeavor will help avert maternal (MDG 5) and newborn deaths (MDG 4), tyro of the key United Nations’ eight Millennium Development Goals.