Monthly Archives: April 2012

By Marian Van Huis, International Confederation of Midwives

On May 5^th, people all over the world celebrate the difference
midwives make in saving the lives of mothers and babies.  International Day of
the Midwife is about spreading awareness of the need for midwives and the impact
they have on maternal and child health. It is also about advocating for
government commitments to improve maternal and neonatal health by raising the
number of midwives, and increasing funding and legislative support for
midwifery.  These efforts are not just a means to advance a professional
occupation, but are an opportunity to advance the status of girls and women
everywhere and have a positive impact on the lives of everyone in their
communities.

350,000 women and 3 million neonates die each year as a result of mostly
preventable circumstances.  Ninety-nine percent of maternal deaths occur in
developing countries and sixty percent of these maternal deaths happen in only 6
countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.

Every woman, everywhere, should have the right to a safe childbirth
experience.  This includes the right to deliver where, with whom, and how she
wants.  Whether a woman wants to give birth in a hospital, health facility, or
at home, she should have access to skilled care during, before and after
childbirth.  But inequities of qualified care continue to exist throughout the
world, in both developed and developing countries.  In many countries, midwifery
services are underfunded because of budget cuts and as a result of market-driven
policies.  Other countries have not yet made the decision to provide any funding
for midwifery services.

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By Rose Mlay, WRA Tanzania

The size of the nursing-midwifery school classes in Tanzania is rapidly shrinking, and the shortage of midwives is felt throughout the country. According to the 2010 Tanzania Demographic Health Survey, only half of births in Tanzania are attended by skilled health personnel. For every 100,000 births in Tanzania, almost 800 women die needlessly in child birth. Most of these are avoidable with access to care and skilled health workers.

The White Ribbon Alliance in Tanzania (WRATZ) is working hard to reduce maternal mortality and to bring the issue of the shortage of midwives to the forefront of the political agenda. As part of this work, WRATZ is working to promote midwifery as a profession and to improve the status and working conditions of midwives. This includes working to improve the public perception of midwives and the need for improved working conditions.  An example of these efforts is a short film, “What I Want Is Simple“, which is airing on Tanzania national television and radio spots.

Recently, with the financial support of the Health Policy Project, WRATZ organized a public hearing on this issue. Those in the audience were asked if they would choose nursing and midwifery as a career for their children. Of the one thousand people in attendance, only thirteen raised their hands in approval, which led to an in-depth discussion on the subject. Among other findings, it was revealed that students were hesitant to apply to midwifery schools due to the bad timing of acceptance letters. They had to make an enrollment decision for all the other schools a long time before the midwifery schools finalized their acceptance process.

Armed with this knowledge, civil society can now advocate with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of Tanzania for the necessary changes and timing adjustments to be made so that more students will be encouraged to join the depleting cadre of midwives.

It remains a global scandal and violation of human rights that in many parts of the world becoming a mother is not a matter of choice for women or for girls. If family planning services, including information about reproductive health, access to birth control, and health care, were available to all women, the deaths of 100,000 women during childbirth could be prevented every year. That’s a third of all maternal deaths. In other words, access to family planning saves lives.

We have seen demand increasing in countries with some of the worst maternal mortality statics, but there are still many inequities between rich and poor and urban and rural areas. For example in Nigeria, among the richest of women in the country, more than one in four women uses family planning methods. It’s a number that’s not as nearly as high as it should be. However, it’s a marked improvement from the poorest women in the country where less than 3 percent use contraception.

So what needs to happen? Clearly, more must be done to reach women in rural areas and to increase demand in places where women don’t even know about family planning methods. It is also important to focus on girls and young women, who are more at risk of losing their lives in childbirth – yet simultaneously much less able to reach family planning services.

It is health workers, most often midwives, who are responsible for overcoming these barriers, by  providing education, advising on reproductive health, and distributing services to those most in need. Health workers can be most effective in this effort if they are well trained, equipped and supported as part of a well-functioning health system, and it is vital that renewed efforts on Family Planning take this in to consideration.

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The White Ribbon Alliance envisions a world with a sufficient number of health workers, particularly midwives, that are better supported to ensure skilled maternity care for all women and their newborns. In order to achieve this key advocacy objective, WRA supports national level campaigns in persuading decision makers to take specific national actions to improve the numbers, distribution, working conditions and competency of health workers, with a specific focus on midwives.

In preparation for the International Day of the Midwife (May 5th), WRA is partnering with the International Confederation of Midwives to mobilize constituents and support advocacy efforts promoting midwifery as a profession and calling for more midwives, better supported.

Join Us!

Help us advocate for more midwives!

Plan and organize an event in preparation for the International Day of the Midwife: Download the resource packet.

Email WRA your plans for IDM or share your advocacy success.