Increasing women’s access to quality midwifery services has become a focus of global efforts to realize the right of every woman to the best possible health care during pregnancy and childbirth.This report from UNFPA aims to provide up-to-date information about midwifery services for women and newborns, focusing on 58 countries with high rates of maternal, foetal and newborn mortality. According to the report, each year 358,000 women die while pregnant or giving birth, some two million newborns die within the first 24 hours of life and there are 2.6 million stillbirths, all because of inadequate or insufficient health care. Unless an additional 112,000 midwives are trained, deployed and retained in supportive environments, 38 of those countries surveyed might not meet the Millennium Development Goal target to achieve 95% coverage of births by skilled attendants by 2015.
The report adds that up to 90% of maternal deaths could be prevented if midwives were in place and could refer the most severe complications to specialised care. The UNFPA website has more information on reproductive health services and safe motherhood. Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink
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