The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s representative Ericka Goldson says among the 20 reporting countries, Namibia and Comoros lack a national curriculum for midwifery education.
She continued that this deficiency underscores a critical gap that must be addressed to bolster the effectiveness of midwifery services.
“High-quality midwifery education is an essential ingredient for quality care. Inadequate education and training jeopardise the professional identity, competence and confidence of midwives,” she stated over the weekend during the commemoration of the International Day of the Midwife in Windhoek.
In the face of a worsening climate crisis, the need for midwives has never been more urgent, she said.
“To bolster midwifery services, it is imperative that we invest in five key areas: strengthening data systems, addressing midwife shortages, enhancing the quality of midwifery care through education and training, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health (SRMNAH) care, investing in midwife leaders, and amplifying the value of midwifery through research,” the representative said.
Investments in the midwifery workforce have demonstrated remarkable returns, with studies indicating potential reductions in mortality rates by two-thirds with universal coverage of midwife-delivered interventions.
In Namibia, midwives play a critical role in attending to safe deliveries, and subsequently saving lives.
Over 94% of women attend antenatal care with a skilled provider, and over 80% of deliveries happen in facilities with a certified midwife, she said.
“Midwives play a vital role, offering up to 90% of essential sexual and reproductive health services, and providing expertise and support wherever needed. However, a severe global shortage of approximately one million midwives persists due to challenging working conditions and gender discrimination, leading to low wages, limited career advancement and instances of sexual harassment on the job,” she lamented.
This year’s International Day of a Midwife is being celebrated under the banner, ‘Midwives: A Vital Solution to Climate Change’.
On his part, CEO of the Health Professions Council of Namibia. Cornelius Weyulu stated that the average health of global citizens has significantly improved over the past century.
The stability of planet’s life support systems has significantly decreased, putting public health and development gains at risk, he said.
“Climate change, loss of biodiversity, deforestation and other factors affect where, when and how intensely infectious diseases emerge,” he stated.
Weyulu added that health professionals, regardless of the species of their patients, can no longer continue to perform their duties as usual while the natural life support systems, upon which all life depends, are being eroded by a degrading and changing environment.
He called for the adoption of a One Health collaborative approach to devise common goals beneficial to patients and the planet, as well as participation in activities aimed at interrogating the current status of planetary health education and its impacts on future teachings, among others.
The president of the Independent Midwives’ Association of Namibia (Imana), Sylvia Hamata, said midwives play a critical role in safeguarding maternal and newborn health, particularly in the face of unprecedented climate challenges.
“The State of the World’s Midwifery Report of 2021 found that the world needs at least 900 000 midwives worldwide.
It further presented that when midwives are properly educated and regulated, they can avert maternal and neonatal mortality, morbidity and stillbirths,” she stated.
She said this is the work that Imana prioritises, through limited resources and advocating for proper training of midwives by voicing concerns over midwifery training curriculums.
The aim is competency-based training.
We built our capacity by challenging ourselves to hone skills, provide a continuous professional development platform for matters of midwifery practice, as well as honing our skills to conduct research fit for our context,” said Hamata.
-psiririka@nepc.com.na