More trained midwives, more lives saved
Midwives not only deliver babies. They do much more. They care for mothers before and after delivery. They protect the health of newborn and children. They offer family planning counselling and supplies tools. They are crucial for the communities and to the survival of women and children. The crucial role of midwives was highlighted in the first State of the World's Midwifery report published recently, commissioned and coordinated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Every year, 358,000 women and 3.6 million newborn babies die due to largely preventable complications during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. In addition, every year, nearly 3 million babies are stillborn. Most of these deaths occur in low-income countries and happen because women — often poor and marginalised — have no access to functioning health facilities or to qualified health professionals, notably midwives and others with midwifery skills. The report highlights the shortage of skilled midwives in many low-income countries, stressing the need to train and deploy more midwives in all parts of a country — especially remote and rural areas. The nursing shortage is extreme and the ratio of registered nurse-midwives to births is one of the world's lowest. Retention is hampered by lack of advancement opportunities, poor working conditions, weak supervision and lack of autonomy. Until recently midwives were not defined as a professional cadre and received only 6 months of midwifery education. Other providers of maternity services include the Community Skilled Birth Attendant and Family Welfare Visitors, both with 12-18 months' education. Bangladesh has made remarkable achievements in reproductive health and reducing maternal mortality over the past decade and is on track to achieve MDGs 4 and 5. However, addressing workforce need is critical, with particular attention to a defined role for midwives in regulation, education and deployment. Experts recommended that Bangladesh needs to intensify efforts to make sufficient midwifery staff available to provide quality skilled attendance to the estimated 3 million births per year. So, more investment in midwifery could save millions of babies and women who still die every year because of a lack of skilled healthcare during childbirth. Let's ensure that every woman and her newborn have access to quality midwifery services.
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