Workshop enhances midwifery services
The role of midwives in reproductive health care was the focus of discussion of a workshop in the central city of Hue on July 21.
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The event, organised by the Vietnamese Association of Midwives (VAM), saw the participation of 300 domestic and foreign delegates.
VAM President Phan Thi Hanh attached significance to the role of midwives in the medical system, saying that they are the key staff in caring for maternal and infant health, particularly in remote areas.
Deputy Director of the Department of Maternal and Children’s Health under the Health Ministry stressed the need for enhancing clinical skills for midwives in a bid to minimise the rate of infant and maternal mortality.
It is necessary to have special support policies for midwives, especially those working in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, he noted.
Some 70% of Vietnamese women living in rural areas so they often face complications during their pregnancy or baby delivery due to a poor understanding of reproductive health care.
Figures show that since 1990, the global rate of infant and maternal mortality has halved. Currently, some 800 women die of pregnancy or delivery-related causes everyday around the world; and nearly three million newborns die in the first week of their life for lack of adequate daily medical care, particularly in developing nations.
