Viva midwives!
News from the ICM congress 2011.
Midwives magazine: Issue 5 :: 2011
Solidarity and song at ICM congress
The first ICM congress to be held in Africa was brought to life with a lively musical opening ceremony in Durban, South Africa.
Around 3000 midwives, from over 111 countries, gathered under the theme of ‘Midwives tackling the ‘Big 5’ globally’.
Referencing the African safari ‘Big 5’, the ICM were looking to bring attention to a quintet of challenges for the midwifery profession: autonomy, education, regulation, research and midwifery services.
The opening ceremony featured performances from three choirs, including the Society of Midwives of South Africa’s own choir.
On the eve of the congress, about 1000 delegates and supporters took part in a 5km walk through Durban, with many national flags and banners on show. Organisers said the march represented a show of solidarity with mothers and midwifery colleagues across Africa, a continent with some of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality.
Midwives honoured
Midwives from Afghanistan and Nigeria have received an award in recognition of their commitment to saving the lives of women and babies in resource-challenged locations.
Madina Rashidi and Catherine Ojo received the Every One award, an accolade that is jointly organised by the ICM and Save the Children.
Madina, from Afghanistan, provides 24-hour care as the sole midwife at the only health centre in her village. The ICM described her as ‘a catalyst in changing centuries of tradition’.
Catherine works as chief nursing officer in Nigeria. She started a special care baby unit and trains other midwives. Catherine is involved in research studies to improve newborn care.
A third award was presented to Dr Christina Mudokwenyu-Rawdon. She received the Marie Goubran award for her work in introducing evidence-based practice in her native Zimbabwe.
Midwives must unite to demand free health care for all women
All childbearing women should get free health care, ICM president Bridget Lynch told delegates.
‘This is a human rights issue,’ she said. ‘We need to see safe care for all.’
She called on midwives to join forces to press governments to provide high-quality, publicly-funded health care.
‘We (also) need to support women’s choice of birthplace and improve service quality,’ she said. ‘To do this, midwives need to be involved in policy development so we can deliver more midwives where they are needed.’
Midwives also need to put aside their differences.
‘We need to stop fighting with colleagues, and treat them with the same care as we would our women in labour,’ she said.
‘Midwives can save millions of lives’
The authors of a new global report on midwifery claim up to 3.6 million deaths a year could be prevented across low-resourced countries if midwifery provision was upgraded.
The state of the world’s midwifery report: delivering health, saving lives was compiled by the ICM in partnership with 26 international agencies and led by the UN Population Fund. It presents an overview of numbers, skills and distribution of life-saving midwives in those countries that experience the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.
The report surveyed 58 countries that together account for almost 60% of all births worldwide, but 91% of all maternal deaths. Of the 38 countries in greatest need of midwives, 22 need to double their workforce by 2015 and seven need to quadruple it.
As well as midwife shortages, the report points to the lack of training and education opportunities, poor regulation and inadequate policy-making as factors that exacerbate the situation.
The report makes a series of recommendations to remedy the problems highlighted and reinforce the status of midwifery.
The 'Big 5' issues for midwives:
Autonomy
The key to a strong midwifery workforce.
Education
Education ensures the competencies of midwives to practise and which is founded on a shared definition of the midwife’s role and her place within the healthcare system.
Regulation and licensure
We must determine midwives’ scope of practice as autonomous healthcare providers.
Research
Research provides a strong evidence base for midwifery practice and informs education, regulation and association.
Midwifery services
With referral options so that we can provide quality midwifery services wherever women are, when they need them and with the information they need to make a choice.
