Pakistan call for more midwives

Senior health professionals in Pakistan last week urged the government to significantly increase the number of health workers with midwifery skills in the country.

The call was made at the launch on 30 July of a television docu-drama on maternal health made in collaboration with the Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH) and the United Nations Population Fund.

The programme depicts women experiencing obstetric complications and the role of medics and midwives in these emergencies to highlight the need for more trained maternity staff.

Dr Shershah, PNFWH president, told the conference that despite billions of rupees of investment into the maternal healthcare sector, the country has not seen significant improvements in maternal mortality rates and pregnancy-related complications.

He said this was an over-emphasis on producing doctors, but there needed to be more focus on increasing the numbers of midwives and female health workers. He gave the example of Sindh province, which is producing 3300 doctors each year, compared to 533 midwives. ‘A country like us needs to see a manifold increase in the midwifery force,’ he said.