Archived Professional News: September 2005

Community of midwives in action

ANF executive and members joined 2,000 midwives from around the world for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Congress in Brisbane in July 2005.

It was inspiring to hear how midwives the world over are taking action to deliver better health outcomes for women and their communities.

One such example was the young leaders' project. Established by the ICM, it aims to assist young midwives take on leadership roles in their own countries and in the international arena.

Lennie Kamwendo, a retiring midwife from Malawi, talked about midwifery in her country, and asked why the life of a woman in Malawi is worth less than the life of a woman in Australia.

Women in both countries are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, breadwinners and community members, but the maternal death rate in Malawi has increased from 620 deaths per 100,000 in 1992 to 1,120 in 2000.

Ms Kamwendo discussed the reasons for this increase, which include a greater disease burden for the whole population and a shortage of midwives, and cited Malaysia as an example to countries such as Malawi.

According to Ms Kamwendo, Malaysia has reduced its maternal mortality rates over three decades from 300 per 100,000 to 39.

One strategy used to great effect has been the location of midwives in rural areas where the majority of births occur.

As about 600,000 women continue to die in childbirth across the world every year, ICM has established a partnership with the International Federation of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (IFGO).

The two organisations are collaborating on a number of issues, including management of the third stage of labour and post-partum haemorrhage, which, according to the IFGO secretary-general, is the leading cause of maternal death in most countries.

Another joint project is the Safe Motherhood and Healthy Newborns campaign. This project is an opportunity for national midwifery associations to work with obstetrician and gynaecologist organisations to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity by addressing country-specific aspects of maternal and newborn care.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council also reported to the congress on a project they commissioned to develop national competency standards for midwives.

This important project for midwives was undertaken by a consortium led by Caroline Homer from the University of Technology Sydney. The University of South Australia and Edith Cowan University in Western Australia were also part of the consortium.

The standards are due to be released toward the end of the year after consideration by each of the regulatory authorities.

The ANF and the Australian College of Midwives Inc. made the most of having members of both executives in the same place at the same time, and signed a memorandum of collaboration in Brisbane.

This memorandum is an important symbol of the intention of both organisations to work together on shared issues of importance, such as the midwifery workforce; professional indemnity insurance; and the promotion of midwifery.

The ANF is in the process of finalising a policy on midwifery - midwife members have contributed to the development of this policy through ANF branch reference groups and networks.

The policy will be posted onto the ANF web-site when it has been endorsed by the ANF federal executive.

Victoria Gilmore
ANF Federal Professional Officer