Bangladesh set to celebrate midwifery

The International Day of the Midwife will be observed on Friday in Bangladesh highlighting the ‘critical need’ of the professionals in saving lives.

“Midwives save lives, support and promote healthy families, and empower women and couples to choose whether, when and how often to have children,” UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin has said in a statement.

“They also help avert sexually transmitted infections and prevent disabilities like obstetric fistula, mother-to-child transmission of HIV and female genital mutilation,” he said.

Osotimehin urged all governments and development partners to join UNFPA in supporting midwives "so more women survive and they, their families and communities thrive".

‘Midwives, Mothers and Families: Partners for Life’ is the theme of this year’s celebration.

Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council Registrar Shuraiya Begum told bdnews24.com of the programmes to observe the day. Rally, discussion and cultural events are the highlights of the day. Health Minister Mohammed Nasim will attend their celebration.

Midwifery is a new profession in Bangladesh. It was established through a commitment made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010, and since then, it has made some big strides.

The 597 midwives who graduated from the three-year diploma course in midwifery in late 2015 were officially licensed in February 2016 and are all set to receive their diplomas from the prime minister herself in the next few days.

Some 600 certified midwives, nurse-midwives, who completed a six-moth post-basic training, have been posted to sub-district level health facilities.

The education of midwives has received a significant upgrade as several programmes to support midwifery education have been established.

In April 2016, 30 members of the nursing faculty teaching midwifery students in 15 nursing institutes across Bangladesh enrolled at an online master’s programme with the Dalarna University, Sweden.

The course in sexual and reproductive health and rights is free of cost for the women and is the first of its kind in Asia.

However, despite the developments of the past months, much remains to be done, say experts.

Approximately 5,200 women still die every year in Bangladesh due to pregnancy or birth-related causes, that is 15 women every day, and 23 out of 1000 newborns do not survive. Two-thirds of these deaths would be preventable, the UNFPA says.

Global evidence shows that midwives who are educated and regulated to international standards can provide 87 percent of the essential care needed for women and newborns.

Investing in midwifery education and deployment to community-based services can potentially yield a 16 fold return on investment in terms of lives saved and costs of caesarean sections averted.

Currently in Bangladesh, only 42 percent of women have a skilled birth attendant at their side when delivering their babies, and only 38 percent of them are in health facilities at the time of delivery.

An equally worrying fact is that a majority of those getting pregnant and having babies are in fact more girls than women.

For girls already married, the number one priority is the delay of first pregnancy, at least until they are 20, for those already pregnant birth spacing – at least three years wait before another pregnancy – is the goal.

Midwives are able to provide these services not just in a professional and highly educated manner, but also in a compassionate and caring way.

“We have come a long way to establish midwifery as a profession, but challenges still remain,” Registrar Shuraiya said.

“We have to make the profession more attractive by giving them scopes of higher education and by charting a proper career path as well,” she told bdnews24.com.

UNFPA Representative in Dhaka Iori Kato said midwives help "ensure wanted, healthy pregnancies and safe births and women in Bangladesh are increasingly able to benefit with more midwives deployed throughout the country".

The lack of skilled birth attendance in Bangladesh is particularly problematic for girls and women in remote areas and regions prone to natural disasters, he said.

He thanked the Bangladesh government and development partners for their commitment towards ensuring healthier lives for girls, women and newborns in the country.

Preventing maternal and newborn deaths and disabilities and empowering women to make informed, healthy choices and exercise their rights is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

To make this happen in Bangladesh, he said, further strengthening midwifery is a key, through maintaining the highest global standards and promoting an enabling environment for midwives to effectively serve the needs of women and their families.