Under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH), in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Arab States Regional Office in Cairo, is to organize the three-day 2nd Midwifery Conference on Tuesday, 1st April, 2014 (corresponding to 1st Jumada Al-Akherah, 1435 H) in Riyadh. The conference will be attended by not less than 80 midwifes and experts in the maternity-associated issues, representing 17 Arab countries, in addition to experts from the World Health Organization-Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO-EMRO) and the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). The conference will also be attended by a number of senior officials at the Ministry of Health and the educational health institutions from various Arab countries.
This was announced by the MOH Assistant Deputy Minister for Supportive Medical Services, Dr. Muneera Al-Esseimi, who indicated that this 2nd Midwifery Conference in the Arab region culminates and comes as the outcome of the international studies and researches, highlighting the pivotal and effective role played by midwives in reducing maternal mortality and improving women and babies’ health. Dr. Muneera has pointed out that these goals constitute the core business of UNFPA, particularly its fifth development goal of this Millennium on the maintenance of maternal health through preparing qualified cadres of midwives, especially in remote and rural areas.
Dr. Muneera went on adding that the conference aims at supporting and facilitating the exchange of experiences and knowledge; in an endeavor to reach an agreement on the necessary strategic interventions meant to promote midwifery services provided for mothers, consequently benefiting the whole family seen as a unit of the Arab societies.
Furthermore, Dr. Muneera has underlined that the conference will tackle the analysis and survey of various midwifery education mechanisms, including the successful experiences and learned lessons in the Arab countries, as well as identifying gaps and approaches supporting the development of midwifery education programs and strategies in the region. “According to the international definition of midwifery, the midwife is a woman, who is trained to help women give birth to babies. The midwife should be holding nationally-recognized education programs as she will be responsible for providing the necessary support, care and advice to women during pregnancy, giving birth and period after birth”, said Dr. Muneera.
She added that many international bodies, working in the maternal and reproductive health domain, committed to applying global standards to accelerate the improvement of maternal health and reduce children mortality.
During the conference, the Head of ICM, Mrs. Frances Day-Stirk, will deliver a lecture on the challenges facing midwifery in the world, and the actions required to ensure high-quality women care services, meanwhile being accessible for all people, regardless of their social or economic levels.