DFID-UNFPA project to save Bangladeshi mothers

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have joined hands to save Bangladeshi mothers by strengthening midwifery services.

UNFPA Representative Argentina Matavel Piccin and DFID Bangladesh chief Jane Edmondson signed a grant agreement for a programme titled ‘Strengthening the national midwifery programme (SNMP) on Sunday.
 
The UK grant, through UNFPA, will support Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to train midwives in Bangladesh.
 
The objective of the programme is to improve the quality of midwifery education and create an enabling environment for the provision of a midwifery-led continuum of care for pregnant women and their babies in Bangladesh.
 
Through this programme , UNFPA will work closely with the Directorate of Nursing, Health ministry and will try achieving the agreed principles of quality, equity and efficiency of the up-coming 4th health sector programme of the ministry, the UNFPA said.
 
The DFID chief Edmondson appreciated the government for reducing maternal deaths from over 12,000 in 2001 to fewer than 6,000 in 2014.
 
“But 6,000 deaths a year is still too many. Skilled care providers such as the midwives this programme will produce are essential if quality maternal and newborn care services are to be available to all and the number of women dying reduced even more,” she said.
 
The UNFPA Representative described the programme as a “turning point” in the fight for reduction of maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity in Bangladesh.
 
“By the end of this programme, Bangladesh will have midwives educated and trained to international standards,” she said.