INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE MIDWIFE (IDF) 2021 - 5th May 2021

Theme: “Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives.”

Dear Colleague Midwives of Ghana and around the world, greetings to us all. Today is a global celebration of the work of midwives. Recognizing us all for the many days and nights of sacrifice to train to be midwives; to teach others to become midwives; offer the midwifery services needed to save the mother and her newborn and also lead in diverse ways to bring policy issues at the forefront of global maternal health.

The State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 is being launched today at 1:30 PM GMT. It presents findings on the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, New-born and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) workforce from 194 countries. The report, produced by UNFPA, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), the World Health Organization (WHO), and Novametrics, shows the progress and trends since the inaugural 2011 edition and identifies the barriers and challenges to future advancement.

The report establishes a global shortage of 1.1 million SRMNAH workers, the largest shortage (900,000) being midwives. Investment is urgently needed in education and training; management, regulation and work environment; leadership and governance, and service delivery. Analysis indicates that fully educated, licensed and integrated midwives supported by interdisciplinary teams can deliver about 90 percent of the essential SRMNAH interventions across the life course, yet they account for less than 10 percent of the global SRMNAH workforce.

For midwives to achieve their full potential, bold investments by governments, policymakers, regulatory authorities, educational institutions, professional associations, international organizations, global partnerships, donor agencies, civil society organizations, and researchers are needed at country, regional and global levels.

On this important day of celebration, I doff my hat off to all midwives, and I say AYEKOO! Even in times of COVID, you stood for the woman and her newborn.  May the good Lord bless your efforts and make you great.  God bless you all.

Happy International Midwives Day, my dear colleagues.

From: Dr. Mrs. Jemima A. Dennis-Antwi PhD, MSc. HE/HP, BSN, RN, RM, PHN, FWACN, FGCNM (International Maternal Health and Midwifery Technical Specialist).