African Midwifery Leaders Gather in Ghana to Scale Up Action and Save Lives

ACCRA, Ghana --- Over 70 midwifery leaders from 12 African countries have gathered here  today to participate in a five-day workshop that will lead to action plans to improve access to qualified midwives across the continent – and ultimately to save the lives of women and their newborns. The workshop,  from 22 to 26 August, has been organised by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, as part of their partnership programme to strengthen midwifery skills in low-resource countries which have the highest rates of maternal mortality globally.

Around 358,000 women die each year as a result of preventable complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine per cent of these deaths happen in low-income countries, many of which are participating in this workshop. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, to improve maternal health, commits countries to delivering significant improvements to maternal health worldwide, but this has been the slowest-moving of all the development goals so far. Adequate midwifery services could save millions of lives annually. The workshop in Ghana brings together representatives of professional associations, educational institutions and health-care regulators who share a common commitment to achieving MDG 5 and ensuring that childbearing women have access to qualified midwives as part of a safe maternal health-care system.

During an intensive five days, delegates will conduct an in-depth analysis of the state of midwifery education, association and regulation in their countries. This analysis will be used to draft national evidence-based action plans to improve midwifery education, association and regulation for each participating country – and to increase the number of births attended by qualified and competent midwives. Plans for regional development and collaboration will also be discussed in order to share learning, build on each country’s strengths and address gaps common to African countries involved in the programme.

UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin commented on the importance of midwifery. "It saves lives and promotes good health in communities and in societies as a whole. Midwifery is an essential component of an effective health-care system."

"Evidence shows that access to competent, educated midwives and high-quality midwifery services significantly reduces the number of women and babies who die in pregnancy and childbirth," said ICM President Frances Day-Stirk. "As a result of ICM’s work, midwives now have global standards against which countries can assess their competencies, education and regulation of their workforce and save lives."

Earlier this year UNFPA, ICM and partners released the first-ever State of the World’s Midwifery Report, which took the global temperature on midwifery and provides countries participating in this workshop with the facts and figures and the tools they need to robustly identify the practical steps that will ensure safer childbirth for women in their respective countries.

More information about the ICM global standards for education, regulation and association and links to the UNFPA State of the World Midwifery Report can be found at www.internationalmidwives.org .

Media enquiries to:

Anita Wiseman, ICM Communication and media officer a.wiseman@internationalmidwives.org +31703060520

Katja Iversen, Media Specialist and Campaign Coordinator, iversen@unfpa.org, +12122975016 / +19174033063