The Day for Thanking Nurses and Midwives
Today, the 7th of April, is the day to thank nurses and midwives for their immense contribution to make sure that everyone remains healthy. Healthcare that are related to menstrual regulation, safe births, contraception, maternal and neonatal health, are essential even during pandemics. The midwife in this picture from Bangladesh is ensuring safe deliveries with the help of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE). This picture was posted by UNFPA Bangladesh on Twitter.
The World Health Organisation states that 70% of the world’s health and social workforce comprise women. Midwives and nurses represent a large portion of this. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us once again how nurses and midwives play a vital role in providing health care as they are the frontliners. We can ensure proper healthcare for all only after we can ensure that there is sufficient numbers of well-trained and educated nurses. To ensure this we have to make sure that they are adequately supported and receive proper pay and recognition to commensurate with the service and quality of care that they provide. Nurses and midwives should be given roles in leadership and decision making as they spend a large portion of time with the patients. The WHO says, ‘Investing more in midwives, who are critical for maternal and newborn health as well as for family planning, could avert over 80% of all the maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths that occur today.’
The density of nurses in the South Asian region is currently 18 per 10,000 population. The number is unsatisfactory, because the WHO states that the ideal number should be 40 per 10,000. This means the number of nurses and midwives in the South Asian region must be doubled, making sure that they are also there in the remote and hard to reach areas.
2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims at ensuring healthy lives and promoting well being for all. We can achieve this goal by 2030 only if we can invest in strengthening the health systems, by investing in midwives and nurses.
Sources:
- https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/world-health-day-2020/who-whd-yonm-toolkit-20200325-resolution-fixed.pdf?sfvrsn=87dd94c9_2
- https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/celebrate-support-and-strengthen-the-nursing-and-midwifery-workforce-1890214
