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Delivering the evidence to improve the health of women and newborns: State of the World's Midwifery, report 2014.

ABSTRACT: The State of the World's Midwifery Report 2014: A universal pathway, a women's right to health (SoWMy2014) was published in June 2014 and joins the ranks of a number of publications which contribute to the growing body of evidence about a global midwifery workforce that can improve maternal and child health.This editorial provides an overview of these publications that have been supported by global movements in the area of sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn and child health over the last four years. Background information is given on the methodology and data collection of SoWMy2014, the main findings cover the area of the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of midwifery services and a 2 page country brief shows the SRMNH data and workforce projections for each of the 73 "Countdown countries" that participated.SoWMy 2014 report shows that midwives can provide 87% of the needed essential care for women and newborns, when educated and trained to international standards. Midwives however, are most effective when they work within a functional health system and enabling environment.Also, a supportive team of auxiliaries, physicians and specialists is essential in order to ensure coverage of SRMNH services to women and newborns across the whole continuum of care, from pre-pregnancy through to pregnancy, childbirth and the post-natal period and from household to hospital.Based on these findings, the report puts forward a vision of Midwifery2030, a pathway for women's health and for midwifery policy and planning through the end of 2030. It promotes women-centered and midwife-led care to achieve the goal of universal health coverage for all women.

SUBMITTER: Day-Stirk F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4326403 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Delivering the evidence to improve the health of women and newborns: State of the World's Midwifery, report 2014.

Day-Stirk Frances F McConville Frances F Campbell James J Laski Laura L Guerra-Arias Maria M Hoope-Bender Petra Ten PT Michel-Schuldt Michaela M de Bernis Luc L

Reproductive health 20141217

The State of the World's Midwifery Report 2014: A universal pathway, a women's right to health (SoWMy2014) was published in June 2014 and joins the ranks of a number of publications which contribute to the growing body of evidence about a global midwifery workforce that can improve maternal and child health.This editorial provides an overview of these publications that have been supported by global movements in the area of sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn and child health over the las ...[more]

PMID: 25518862

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Project description:The third global State of the World's Midwifery report (SoWMy 2021) provides an updated evidence base on the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health (SRMNAH) workforce. For the first time, SoWMy includes high-income countries (HICs) as well as low- and middle-income countries. This paper describes the similarities and differences between regions and income groups, and discusses the policy implications of these variations. SoWMy 2021 estimates a global shortage of 900,000 midwives, which is particularly acute in low-income countries (LICs) and in Africa. The shortage is projected to improve only slightly by 2030 unless additional investments are made. The evidence suggests that these investments would yield important returns, including: more positive birth experiences, improved health outcomes, and inclusive and equitable economic growth. Most HICs have sufficient SRMNAH workers to meet the need for essential interventions, and their education and regulatory environments tend to be strong. Upper-middle-income countries also tend to have strong policy environments. LICs and lower-middle-income countries tend to have a broader scope of practice for midwives, and many also have midwives in leadership positions within national government. Key regional variations include: major midwife shortages in Africa and South-East Asia but more promising signs of growth in South-East Asia than in Africa; a strong focus in Africa on professional midwives (rather than associate professionals: the norm in many South-East Asian countries); heavy reliance on medical doctors rather than midwives in the Americas and Eastern Mediterranean regions and parts of the Western Pacific; and a strong educational and regulatory environment in Europe but a lack of midwife leaders at national level. SoWMy 2021 provides stakeholders with the latest data and information to inform their efforts to build back better and fairer after COVID-19. This paper provides a number of policy responses to SoWMy 2021 that are tailored to different contexts, and suggests a variety of issues to consider in these contexts. These suggestions are supported by the inclusion of all countries in the report, because it is clear which countries have strong SRMNAH workforces and enabling environments and can be viewed as exemplars within regions and income groups.

Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding how policies lead to changes in health systems and in practice helps policymakers and researchers to intervene more successfully. Yet identifying all the possible changes that occur as a result of a new policy is challenging not only methodologically and logistically, as limited resources are available to conduct indefinite evaluations, but also theoretically, as a complete mapping and attribution of post-hoc changes requires a full understanding of the mechanisms underpinning all change. One option is to identify possible changes across a number of policy impact domains.MethodsUsing a Policy Impact Framework, we brought together data from media, documents and interviews to identify changes to midwifery policy, practice and provision, following the launch of a new global policy initiative, the State of the World's Midwifery (SoWMy 2014) report published in 2014. We used these identified impacts to develop a map of the mechanisms underpinning these changes.ResultsSoWMy 2014 contributed to a number of changes at national levels, including increased status of midwifery within national governments, improved curricula and training opportunities for midwives, and improved provision of and access to midwifery-led care. These contributions were attributed to SoWMy 2014 via mechanisms such as stakeholder interaction and acquisition of government support, holding national and international dissemination and training events, and a perceived global momentum around supporting midwifery provision. Policy initiatives of this kind can lead to changes in national and international policy dialogue and practice. We identify factors and mechanisms that are likely to increase the scope and scale of these changes, at contextual, national and global levels.ConclusionsIdentifying changes following a policy using a policy impact framework can help researchers and policymakers understand why policies have the effect they do. This is important information for those wishing to increase the effectiveness of future policies and interventions.

Project description:BackgroundIn recent years, extensive studies have been designed and performed in the context of providing midwifery care in developed countries, which has been unfortunately neglected in some low resources and upper middle-income countries such as Iran. This study was conducted to identify the best strategies for improving the quality of midwifery care and developing midwife-centered care in Iran.MethodsThis was a qualitative study using focus group discussion and content analysis method. Data were collected from 121 participants including midwifery board members, gynecologists, heads of midwifery departments, midwifery students, in charge midwives in hospitals, and midwives in the private sector. Focused-group discussions were used for data collection, and data were analyzed using content analysis method.ResultsThe main themes extracted from the participants' statements regarding improving the quality of midwifery care were as follows: Promotion and development of education, Manpower management, Rules, and regulations and standards for midwifery services, and Policy making.ConclusionThis study showed that to improve midwifery care, health policy makers should take into account both the quality and quantity of midwifery education, and promote midwifery human resources through employment. Furthermore, insurance support, encouragement, supporting and motivating midwives, enhancing and improving the facilities, providing hospitals and maternity wards with cutting-edge equipment, promoting and reinforcing the position of midwives in the family doctor program, and using a referral system were the strategies proposed by participants for improving midwifery care. Finally, establishing an efficient and powerful monitoring system to control the practice of gynecologists and midwives, promoting the collaborative practice of midwives and gynecologists, and encouraging team-work with respect to midwifery care were other strategies to improve the midwifery services in Iran. Authorities and policymakers may set the stage for developing high quality and affordable midwifery care by relying on the strategies presented in this study.

Dataset Information

Delivering the evidence to improve the health of women and newborns: State of the World's Midwifery, report 2014.

Publications

Delivering the evidence to improve the health of women and newborns: State of the World's Midwifery, report 2014.

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