Great post from NotEnoughGood.com (http://notenoughgood.com/2012/04/midwives/).
Midwives are undervalued and overlooked throughout the world. They could make a difference to maternal and infant health outcomes. According to the article:
UNFPA outlines the many skills a professional midwife can offer in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity. For example, before and during pregnancy, midwives can be a source of substantiated advice and information. They can be a source of family planning advice and materials. During pregnancy and labor, a trained midwife can recognize signs of problems in women and their newborns, and can refer a woman to the appropriate facility. When adequately trained, midwives can also provide emergency care. Through these skills, UNFPA believes that midwives can play a key role in achieving MDGs 4 (reduce child mortality), 5 (improve maternal health) and 6 (combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases). In some countries, midwives can also provide vaccination services.
The article goes on to talk about success stories in countries that “have harnessed the power of midwives as frontline maternal health workers”. Malaysia was able to reduce maternal mortality in this way.
The article concludes:
Investment in midwives, who are part of their communities and able to provide culturally relevant but accurate information is an invaluable resource for many women who would otherwise go without such quality care. Because qualified midwives are trained to understand infectious disease and issues in the scope of pre- and post-natal care, as well as delivery, they are important assets to countries seeking to improve the lives of women, children, and other vulnerable populations.
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