Today the 5th of May, midwives around the world celebrate the International Day of the Midwife. As autonomous practitioners, midwives are specialized in normal pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, striving to help women have a healthy pregnancy and a natural birth experience, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said in a statement.
Moreover, they are trained to recognize and deal with deviations from the norm and work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals for the safety of mother and baby. They also have an important task in counselling and education not only for women, but also for the family and the community.
The International Confederation of Midwives established the idea of the 'International Day of the Midwife', with the aim to celebrate midwifery and to bring awareness of the importance of the midwives' work to as many people as possible. A theme to emphasise an aspect of midwives' work is agreed in advance for each year's International Day of the Midwives.
This year’s theme is: ‘Midwives leading the way with quality care’. The work of midwives cannot be left unnoticed; as every year, millions of women and newborns around the world are cared for by these skilled professionals.
Midwifery care is unique in the way it can influence the health of future generations through giving new parents the physical well-being, confidence and self-esteem that arise from a positive birth experience, through breast-feeding support and nutritional education, through assistance with family planning and spacing, and through encouragement of women’s knowledge of their own bodies.
This year’s theme clearly states that women and their families should have access to the best quality midwifery care before and during pregnancy, in and after childbirth. Midwifery care for women and their babies is an investment in family and community that promotes healthy growth and well-being for present and future generations. This is the foundation to healthy families which reflects a healthy nation.
Therefore, adequately resourced and educated midwives are crucial to reducing global maternal and neonatal mortality, and substantially improve the experience of childbearing women before, during and after childbirth. Inherent in this year’s theme ‘Midwives leading the way with quality care’, significantly highlight the vital role that midwives play not only in ensuring women and their newborns navigate pregnancy and childbirth safely, but also receive respectful and well-resourced maternity care that can create a lifetime of good health and wellbeing beyond the childbirth continuum.
This means that through their provision of care midwives can save lives and promote the health and wellbeing of women and newborns across the entire reproductive, maternal and newborn health continuum. Midwives help to build healthy families – in the midwives’ hands is the key to the future.
Improving maternal health and reducing child mortality are at the core of the MUMNs vision: every mother and newborn child should receive professional midwifery care! The MUMN strives to emphasise that the care of the midwife is far more than being hospital based and insists that midwifery care should be based in the primary and community health care.
Midwives deliver more than babies; in many instances, they provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services; and play a critical role in promoting health issues in their communities. Working in partnership with women allows midwives and women to get to know each other and build trust and respect. The midwives’ trusting relationship and invaluable counselling skills are instrumental in empowering the women and their families to make the decisions that are right for their situations. This is what drives Midwives to lead quality care towards improved maternal and newborn health outcomes.
On this International Day of the Midwife, the MUMN reiterated its commitment to strengthen quality midwifery, which will, in turn, promote healthier families, communities and nations. The MUMN reaffirm its pledge to support midwives globally and will work towards the goal of ensuring that every pregnancy is safe and that universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is a reality for all.