Jamia Hamdard and faculty celebrates International day of Midwife

New Delhi: “Today is the International Day of the Midwife, a day when we come together as a global health community to celebrate midwives, and the commitment of the midwifery profession globally to saving lives and upholding the rights of women to a safe and positive birth”
Dr. Manju Chhugani, Dean, School of Nursing Sciences and Allied Health celebrated International Day of the Midwife by joining Virtual International Day of the Midwife, conference organised by Frontier Nursing University and Association of Radical Midwives. Presented the work done on Respectful Maternity Care in India. Later she joined Webinar organised by WRAI in partnership with GoI and SOMI with support from BMGF. The theme of the first Panel discussion was Strengthening leadership for Midwifery in India: A virtual dialogue. Eminent speakers presented their views. Second panel was moderated by Ms Medha Gandhi and on voices of Midwives.
The event altogether narrated the philosophy of Midwifery and practices of Midwives which are helpful in normal birth process. More than 300 participants attended the session.
The theme of International Day of the Midwife -2020 is ‘Midwives with women: celebrate, demonstrate, mobilise, unite – our time is NOW!’ and coincidently, this is markedly relevant to the current scenario, amidst global pandemic where midwives have achieved or rising to their extraordinary capacities and accepting challenges to save the mothers and babies.
The innovation, flexibility, resilience and caring nature of midwives is being acknowledged today all over the World. “International Day of the Midwife is a great opportunity for us to showcase how exceptionally proud we are of the way maternity teams have risen to this unprecedented challenge, adapting services and adopting new technology to ensure that mums and babies continue to receive the same great care as they always have, in the safest possible way, says Dr. Chhugani.
2020 is actually the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, and the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), in partnership with UNFPA and others, is “uniting in solidarity with their global midwife workforce to launch a series of calls to action for governments, decision makers, donors and health institutions to ensure the protection of midwives, women, and new-borns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 83 percent of all maternal deaths, stillbirths, and new-born deaths could be averted with the full package of midwifery care. For the first time, countries across the world will unite in recognition of the essential role that midwives play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.