BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Midwives across the country gathered yesterday to celebrate International Midwives Day.
The event was organised by the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Department under the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS).
This year’s theme was “One Million More Midwives”. The celebration was held at the Honiara City Council Multipurpose Youth Hub Hall futsal court.
President of the Solomon Islands Midwives Society, Jessie Larui, said the event was to recognise the important role midwives play in caring for mothers, newborns and families.
She said the day is also a time to reflect on the hard work, dedication and compassion midwives show in their daily duties.
Mrs Larui explained that the theme highlights a global need for one million more midwives to meet growing demand.
“In the Solomon Islands, we need about 300 more midwives to properly serve our population,” she said.
She added that the theme is a call for action to address the shortage of midwives and improve maternal and newborn health services.
“The total number of midwives trained in Solomon Islands was 272. Forty of them resigned to migrate overseas, 40 of them retired, 13 are deceased, leaving only 179 midwives currently practicing in the country,” she said.
She said that midwives make only 10.5 percent of the nursing workforce.
“The ratio is 2.09/ 10,000 population. Today we gather to celebrate and honor the work, dedication and expertise of midwives and their immeasurable contribution in providing crucial care to mother’s newborn to health system worldwide, raise awareness, advocate for increased investment and call on government and decision makers to take action to support and sustain midwifery workforce in the country,” Mrs Larui said.
Mrs Larui said investing in midwives today will lead to healthier mothers, safer births and stronger communities in the future.
She also thanks government officials, development partners, NGOs, Solomon Islands National University, UN partners, and church and community leaders for their continued support.
Photo credit: John Houanihau
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