azfar_state of the world’s midwifery report and midwifery in asia

Strengthening Midwifery Globally

International Confederation of Midwives

ICM/UNFPA, Investing in Midwives Program: Key Midwifery

Achievements, Asia

Pashtoon Azfar

International Confederation of

Midwives, ICM

Regional Midwife Advisor/ Asia

Investing in Midwives'

Programme



Vision

a world where every childbearing woman

has access to a midwife's care

for herself and her newborn

Mission

To strengthen member associations

and to advance the profession of midwifery globally

by promoting autonomous midwives as the most appropriate

caregivers for childbearing women and in keeping birth normal,

in order to enhance the reproductive health of women,

and the health of their newborn and their families




The sole voice representing midwives globally

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Umbrella organisation of professional midwifery associations

An accredited non-governmental organisation

108 Member Associations

250,000 midwives

98 countries

4 regions



E D U C A T I O N

R E G U L A T I O N

A S S O C I A T I O N

ICM ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES

Pillars of Midwifery



ICM Documents

Global Standards, Competencies & Tools

-Global Standards for Midwifery Education

-Global Standards for Midwifery Regulation

-Competencies

-Member Association Capacity Assessment Tool (MACAT)

http://www.internationalmidwives.org/Documentation/

ICMGlobalStandardsCompetenciesandTools/tabid/911/Default.aspx

http://www.internationalmidwives.org/Documentation/ICMGlobalStandardsCompetenciesandTools/tabid/911/Default.aspx





Overview

• Brief description of the ICM/UNFPA initiative

• Snap shot of the main country level achievements

• Highlight key regional and international level key

achievements

• Challenged

• Recommendations

• Way forward



Current

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Nepal

Pakistan

India

In the process of

involvement

Timor-Leste

Vietnam

Countries Involved



Afghanistan Midwives Association (AMA) is now a

formal partner of Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)

AMA providing enormous capacity building

opportunities to midwives both at national and

international level

Developed National Policy and Strategy for Nursing

and Midwifery Services

Post basic BSc and direct entry BSc Midwifery will

begin this year

Afghanistan Midwives and Nurses Act, approved from

MoPH, now under process of approval from Ministry

of Justice and Parliament

Country level few highlights: Afghanistan



Country has 180 trained midwives and 73 faculty

A two-day strategic planning workshop held in May

2011 to finalize the road map to train 3000 midwives

in order to fulfil the Honourable Prime Minister’s

pledge. Roadmap developed according to the ICM

Global standards for education.

BNC Act is under amendment for the inclusion of

midwifery as a distinct profession

Midwifery Society has increasing membership

The curriculum for the 3-year Direct Entry Program

have been finalized and in the process for approval.

Country level few highlights: Bangladesh



Membership of Society of Midwives India (SOMI)

increased to >6000

As part of advocacy and to improve visibility SOMI

organized an innovative event – midwives carrying a

lamp travelled throughout India (27 cities) and finally on

International Day of the Midwife handed the lamp over to

the President of India.

Chapters organized walk for safe motherhood.

At the ICM Congress in Durban, Society of Midwives

India (SOMI) sent in a bid to host the 31st ICM Congress

Country level few highlights: India



Curriculum for Direct Entry Midwifery drafted

Conducted feasibility study on human resources for

maternal health with focus on Midwifery workforce.

A three-day desk review workshop conducted with support

from UNFPA Nepal

Midwifery Association, involved in various policy influencing

settings on Reproductive Health and Safe Motherhood

Regular capacity building activities for midwives by

Midwifery Society

Country level few highlights: Nepal



Midwives capacity building has been a forefront function

of Midwifery Association.

Establish a country working group for the Development

of Midwifery.

UNFPA hired a deputy registrar for midwifery in Pakistan

Nursing Council (PNC)

PNC Act is under amendment for the inclusion of

midwifery as a distinct profession.

Revision Of CMW curriculum

Country level few highlights: Pakistan



Gaps related to Association have been identified and the

interventions to address the gaps are planned for 2012

Country level few highlights: Timor-Leste



Regional and international Level Highlights

In November 2011, the ICM/UNFPA program held a

workshop on ‘Standards Orientation /Dissemination and

Educational Harmonization’ for about 40 midwifery

leaders in the Asia-Pacific Region in India

Formed regional level working group for the

establishment of Regional Resource Centre (RRC)

South Asia Midwifery Association (SAMA) meeting was

organized in South Africa, Durban

‘State of world’s midwifery report’ launched in most of

the countries



Regional and international highlights

Global Celebration of International Day of Midwives

(IDM) in Countries under the slogan: “The World Needs

Midwives Now More Than Ever”

Participation in various high level meetings to share

midwifery related experiences from Asia e.g. In New

York



Challenges for midwifery in Asia

Inadequate visibility of the midwifery profession remains

a challenge in many countries

Limited supportive policy environment for the midwifery

profession exists in several countries

Lack of strong regulatory mechanism in most countries

Political instability in some countries prevents smooth

running of activities

High level advocacy with politicians and key public

officials is critically needed to keep momentum for

strengthening midwifery

Lack of strong coordination and harmonization among

partners working to strengthen midwifery services



Recommendations

Strong partnership and coordination among NGOs,

Government and donors needs to be encouraged and

maintained

Ongoing support and sharing of information is necessary at

all levels to ensure the progress of activities with tangible

outcomes

Provision of higher education opportunities and career

frameworks for existing midwives

Different models of midwifery care need to be introduced for

example midwifery led birthing centers

Strong advocacy is still needed starting from higher level to

grass root level.



Way Forward

Follow up studies on the high-burden countries identified in

the State of World’s Midwifery report

National midwifery strategic planning workshop in Pakistan

Strengthening/initiation of partnerships at the national and

regional levels

Follow up of the implementation of action plans by countries

from Gap Analysis

Planning for joint evaluation in the future

Midwifery situational analysis for the new countries like

Timor-Leste, Vietnam and so on

Establishment of Regional Resource Centre (RRC)

��



Conclusion

The overall goal is to

develop strong and

accountable midwives who

offer women in Asia quality

care based on evidence

based practices and which

will contribute to reducing

maternal and newborn

deaths



International Confederation of Midwives Laan van Meerdervoort 70

2517 AN, The Hague

Netherlands

Telephone: +31 (0)70 306 0520

Fax: +31 (0)703 555 651

[email protected]

www.internationalmidwives.org

Thank You

mailto:[email protected]

azfar_state of the world’s midwifery report and midwifery in asia

Documents

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regional resource

global standards

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international

international

reproductive

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