New generation learning: midwives get online master’s degree
DHAKA, April 19 (NsNewsWire) — UNFPA, the Directorate of Nursing Services and the Swedish Dalarna University kicked-off the first ever online master’s programe in sexual and reproductive health at Dhaka Nursing College on the 19th of April 2016. The one year master’s programme, supported by the Swedish Government, is targeted at midwives who are already teaching in the midwifery programme across Bangladesh. It will provide them with an opportunity to learn more about sexual and reproductive health and women’s rights. These graduates will hold teaching and leadership positions at universities and perhaps within government. They will come to educate hundreds of midwives, run research projects, and work towards sustainable development in their divisions.
At the launch event UNFPA’s Chief of Health Dr. Sathya Doraiswamy described the online master’s programme in which members of the midwifery faculty from across the country have enrolled as a “dream come true”. He went on to say that: “building on the strong foundation that now exists in Bangladesh for professional midwives the further education of the faculty will serve as pillars for building the midwife profession and for building a healthier Bangladesh.” He concluded by hoping that: “One day we want other countries around the world to look to Bangladesh as a model for midwife-led maternal and newborn care, as we are currently looking at Sweden.”
Marcela Lizano, First Secretary at the Embassy of Sweden highlighted how midwives can contribute towards achieving women’s right to health their own bodies. She added that Sweden would like to see: “An increase in the quality of service delivery. We want a strengthening of the public health system”.
Attending were also the Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary, Deputy Director DGHS and the Registrar of the BNC who showed great enthusiasm and pride in Bangladesh taking the leading role in further educating midwives.
UNFPA has been supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the establishment of a professional cadre of midwives in the country since 2007. Maternal and newborn health has improved greatly over the past decades in Bangladesh and, the maternal mortality ratio has decreased from 382 deaths per 100,000 live births to 170 in 2014, which signifies a 56 per cent decrease. For every 100 000 women some 170 still die from pregnancy related complications, 83,100 babies are stillborn and there are yearly 76000 neonatal deaths. These deaths could be prevented through educated midwives. That is why the Government of Bangladesh and UNFFPA want to increase the number of midwives and make a change. Global evidence shows that professional midwives deliver the most effective sexual reproductive, maternal and newborn health interventions, and are able to avert 30% of maternal deaths in countries like Bangladesh. There is a growing consensus that midwifery care, provided by midwives, is the most effective solution to improve maternal health and subsequently newborn health. Midwives who are educated and regulated to international standards can provide 87 percent of the essential care needed for women and newborns; investing in midwifery education and deployment to community-based services can potentially yield a 16-fold return on investment in terms of lives saved and costs of cesarean sections averted. Increased access to sexual and reproductive health services provided by midwives with a mandate to utilize their skills and knowledge would most likely significantly reduce ill health, death and lost years of productivity among women. Midwives are the backbone of key health promotion initiatives and are necessary for sustainable health, including the improvement of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. In Bangladesh, there is an urgent need to educate qualified competent midwife teachers, who can teach evidence-based midwife care in a manner that takes into account the contextual situation in Bangladesh.