Improving Maternal and Newborn Health by Supporting Midwifery Services
Posted on May 5, 2011
By Sophie Beauvais, GHDOnline
According to the latest figures that will be presented in The State of the World’s Midwifery report, more than 350,000 women and 4 million newborns die needlessly each year. Midwives are essential to the delivery of quality services before, during, and after childbirth for women and newborns. Despite this, recent analysis indicate that midwifery services are unequally distributed both between and within countries, states Assistant Director-General Family and Community Health at the World Health Organization Dr. Flavia Bustreo.
Today, May 5, is the International Day of the Midwife. On this day, many reflect on these critical issues and advocate for increased access to midwifery services worldwide, particularly in developing countries where 90% of maternal deaths occur.
Midwives and nurses make up the largest health care workforce worldwide. “Together, they bring unique experience and skill in delivering health care to individuals living in remote and under-resourced areas, navigating health care systems in their own regions, as well as understanding and addressing individual patients’ barriers to health," note the expert moderators of the Global Health Nursing & Midwifery community on GHDonline.org. "Their integration and active participation [in the health care system] is vital to the advancement of global health.”
Dire shortages in nursing and midwifery workforce is one barrier to access to needed services. Workforce shortages are symptomatic of other issues such as low salaries, lack of training, but also the isolation experienced by many health professionals in rural areas. Following a recent screening of No Woman, No Cry, a documentary that explores the risks of giving birth without adequate care directed by Christy Turlington Burns, maternal health advocate and founder of Every Mother Counts, panelists insisted that “a lot is going on that is hopeful and good, but there's not a lot of information sharing across countries and within countries. We need to connect and work together.”
Thanks to the Internet and a multitude of new platforms for nurses and midwives, sharing knowledge and connecting is only but a keyboard away. In addition to the Global Health Nursing & Midwifery community on GHDonline.org, which allows thousands of health implementers from more than 1,500 organizations across the globe to problem-solve in discussions and online expert panels, nurses and midwives can also find useful resources in Maternova.net, which provides training videos on DVD, simple obstetric kits, and small power paks, in the Global Alliance of Nursing and Midwifery communities, and in RH Reality Check, a comprehensive online community and publication serving individuals and organizations committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights.
