Canterbury Midwives Celebrate International Midwives Day

Canterbury midwives are joining their colleagues in New Zealand and around the world today to celebrate International Midwives Day.

Canterbury District Health Board Director of Midwifery Sam Burke says the day is about midwives celebrating and networking with each other and recognition of the valuable work the
profession does.

Midwives provide care for women and babies during the antenatal, birthing and postnatal period in all situations regardless of the environment and conditions, she says.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) maintains that midwives are the most appropriate and cost effective health care provider to be assigned to the care of normal pregnancy and
normal birth, including risk assessment and the recognition of complications.”

The theme for this year’s International Midwives Day is:  “The World Needs Midwives Now More Than Ever”. The United Nations predicts that by 2015, 350,000 more midwives will be
needed worldwide  – particularly in developing countries.

“We have known for a number of years that we need to increase our own workforce too due to a number of factors including demographic changes. There are a lot of initiatives going
on at the moment to increase and retain our midwifery workforce in New Zealand such as increasing student midwife numbers,” she says.

To show their support for the need for more midwives in developing countries Canterbury midwives last year raised money for Tear Fund projects targeting training midwives and
providing neonatal care in Cambodia.

This year they are fundraising again – this time to support the work of New Zealand Nurse Anne de Bres working for Volunteer Service Abroad in Vietnam. Anne has worked with a
Christchurch Women’s Hospital obstetrician in Vietnam and has spoken to staff about her work overseas.