LOCAL midwives on Friday joined with others across the world in celebrating International Day of the Midwife, and in salute to midwives the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the regional health authorities hosted a reception at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

The reception and award ceremony was held in honour of midwives from the 10 regions for their dedication in supporting Guyanese mothers and fathers during pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
Among those present at the ceremony were Chief Medex Baldeo James; Director, Health Science Education (acting) Wilton Benn; and Chairperson, Midwives Association of Guyana Maria Francois.
The ministry’s Chief Nursing Officer Taramattie Barker; Director, Maternal and Child Health, Dr. Janice Woolford; Regional Health Officer, Region 3 (acting) Dr. Nadine Coleman; and President, Guyana Nursing Association Joan Stuart were also present.
During his address, Medex James recognised the growth in the level of care being administered by the local midwives, and lauded them for a job well done.
James said that, “Despite the many challenges, the midwives in Guyana have done well, and have continued to exercise a high level of professionalism, pride and good work ethics in executing their duties.”
He said that being a midwife is not easy as it entails tremendous sacrifice and hard work. “Midwifery is more than delivering babies; it is about helping parents and families during one of the most crucial times in their lives; supporting a mother through pregnancy and childbirth and administrating post-natal care,” he said.
Midwives are special persons
Every midwife is a special person, he said, and urged that as they continue in their role of saving lives that they seek to “always maintain a firm commitment in ensuring the safety of both women and children during pregnancy and delivery.”
Francois pointed to the negativity from the media that every midwife bears whenever a mother dies in childbirth, but noted that “Every time a woman dies,  a part of us as midwives dies also. We feel the pain too.”
Francois said, “No midwife intentionally allows a woman to die,” and noted that they must look inward for strength to lift them up and continue, not only for themselves, but for the other mothers that will come their way.
“All we want sometimes is the recognition, which is rightly due for the countless mothers and children’s lives saved,” Francois said, even as she applauded the regional authorities for annually facilitating the award ceremony to recognise and rightly boost the confidence of midwives.
Meanwhile, Director, Health Science Education Wilton Benn stated that no woman should die giving birth and pointed out that even though there may be more to celebrate from a local perspective, “we still have a lot of progress and a long way to go in the midwifery practice.” He said that there are still too many instances of maternal deaths and close calls.
“So even as we celebrate, as we celebrate our progress, as we celebrate our victory, we must consider the fact that we cannot sleep, we cannot rest because every child deserves to be mothered, and in order for that to happen, we have to pay keen attention to what we do in this area of work,” Benn said.
He urged that midwives do everything in their power to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the mothers in their care. He noted that to guarantee the good health of mother and child, what is needed is an educated, qualified and well regulated workforce in the area of midwifery.
Midwifery practice
To this end, he said that the Health Science Education Department is currently working to strengthen the scope of midwifery practice in Guyana, to revise it in such a way that it will influence legislation, regulation, supervision and also the curriculum.
As part of the activity to commemorate International Day of the Midwife 2013, the midwives earlier in the day marched from Versailles to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
International Day of the Midwife has been observed since 1991 in over 50 nations around the world. The event is organised by the International Confederation of Midwives to raise awareness of the important job midwives do and the care they provide in their communities.
The theme for International Day of the Midwife 2013 is ‘The World Needs Midwives more than ever now.’ (GINA)