Launch and Policy Dialogue of the State of the World’s Midwifery 2021 Report
PR Newswire
GENEVA, 18 May 2021
GENEVA, 18 May 2021 / PRN Africa / — Dear Franca, dear Nathalia, excellencies, esteemed guests, dear colleagues and friends,
I would like to start by offering my thanks to the United Nations Population Fund and the International Confederation of Midwives for partnering with WHO to launch this important report.
Its publication presents us with a much-needed opportunity to discuss the future of midwifery at the global level.
It’s impossible to overstate just how important a role midwives play in providing a wide range of essential services for sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health.
Across the world, they reduce the risks of childbirth and give vital support to childbearing women and newborns.
They also contribute to broader health goals, such as improving sexual and reproductive rights, promoting self-care interventions and empowering women and adolescent girls.
Over the past 16 months, many midwives have been exposed to risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of others.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the world’s midwives, from the bottom of my heart, for your hard work and dedication to improving the health and lives of others.
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Last year, 2020, was the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
The State of the World’s Midwifery 2021 Report is an outcome of that year, and a vital tool for improving health outcomes across the world.
The report highlights that despite the important role they play, there is a global shortage of 900 thousand midwives, with low-income countries, especially in Africa, facing the most acute scarcity.
The result of this shortage is that an estimated 810 women die every single day as a result of complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
There is one stillbirth every 16 seconds, and 2.4 million newborn deaths each year.
Almost one in five women gives birth without assistance from a skilled health provider.
Urgent investment in midwifery is needed in four main areas:
First, we urge countries to pay careful attention to health workforce planning, management and regulation, and to working environment.
This means greater autonomy for midwives within health care teams and providing an enabling work environment, free from gender-related stigma, violence, and discrimination.
Second, we urge countries to invest in high-quality education and training for midwives.
This involves the equitable provision of competent educators and trainers, alongside well-resourced education and training institutions.
Third, midwife-led improvements to service delivery, such as midwife-led models of care.
And fourth, leadership and governance, with senior midwife positions in government, research, and education.
The report also demonstrates that the benefits of these investment are significant.
Fully resourcing midwife-delivered care by 2035 could save an estimated 4.3 million lives per year.
Investment in midwives helps to promote the health and well-being of women, adolescents, and newborns, increases the economic participation of women in the workforce, and contributes to women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Fully integrating midwives in healthcare teams can also increase access to health services, including by the most vulnerable populations.
The evidence from both the State of the World Midwifery 2021 Report and the WHO State of the World Nursing 2020 Report, directly informed the new Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery.
This document provides evidence-based policy priorities to help countries maximize the potential of midwives and nurses.
It includes approaches to ensure that these vital health workers are fully contributing towards the achievement of universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.
At the World Health Assembly next week, Member States will have the chance to adopt a resolution on the Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery.
This will be the first resolution focused on nursing and midwifery in ten years, which is an appropriate way to mark the Year of Health and Care Workers.
I am confident Member States will adopt the resolution, but what matters more is its implementation.
Strong health systems rely on health workers who are supported, protected, motivated, and equipped to deliver safe care at all times.
The takeaway could not be clearer: Now is the time to invest in midwives.
I want to thank all my colleagues and our partners for your hard work and dedication in bringing this report to life.
Now we must all use the findings of this report to bring about the changes we need to maximize the full potential of midwives.
Once again, I want to acknowledge midwives for everything you do to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.
I thank you.
SOURCE World Health Organization (WHO)