Support midwives to perform at their best
What you need to know:
- The safety of the child and mother is their biggest priority, even as they themselves often face discrimination, sexual harassment and poor pay.
Today, we commemorate the International Day of the midwives under the theme, “follow the data: invest in midwives”. Midwives are the backbone of the maternal health system; they stand by women when they are most vulnerable. They are usually the first point of contact for most patients. The safety of the child and mother is their biggest priority, even as they themselves often face discrimination, sexual harassment and poor pay. These challenges are now being exacerbated by the fear and uncertainty over Covid-19.
We should use the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to do more to support midwives’ efforts to uphold the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women everywhere. Achieving universal health coverage in Uganda, among other national and global targets, depends on empowering nurses and midwives to build on and expand their knowledge and skills.
It is not enough to say we are managing Covid-19 when people are dying from other conditions.
We need to give equal attention to other health emergencies such as maternal and child health.
In the bid to improve the maternal and child health situation the ball lies in the hands of the government and other stakeholders but most importantly, the midwives. We can provide all the necessary equipment, facilities, medicines etc, but if the key service providers (midwives) are not taken into consideration, then the quality of service will still be poor.
We need to see that the midwives are trained and are qualified for the job. They should be provided with protective gear as well and facilitated well. Investment in nurses and midwives is a global call to action and Uganda should not be left behind. Investing in nurses and midwives is no longer a debatable topic but instead a call to action to ensure quality patient outcomes and the resilience of health systems. The success of this investment could determine how well we recover from pandemics such as this one in the future. Without a healthy population, it is impossible to achieve a strong economy. The first step of Investment should be the meaningful engagement of nurses and midwives in policy discussions, formulation, and analysis.
The government must work towards increasing the health budget to cater for services such as training of midwives and other health workers, provision of personal protective gear, reasonable remuneration, and provision of all the necessary equipment in the facilities to enable them work better.
Communities need to be sensitised and educated about the needs and rights around access and utilisation of maternal health care services. As civil society organisations we need to work together with other stakeholders to advocate for improvement of maternal health, using the rights-based approach which is the most appropriate and sustainable way towards improved health systems.
Ronah Nakirya Ssemakula, Programme manager- Action for Rural Women’s Empowerment
