World Health Day: the importance of maternal and newborn care
World Health Day is celebrated annually on 7 April and marks the founding of the World Health Organization in 1948.
It is an opportunity to highlight a range of health issues, while also advancing progress towards universal healthcare: an aspirational yet achievable goal.
Maternal and newborn health
Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures is the theme of this year’s World Health Day, which will shine a light on maternal and newborn health.
Currently, more than 300,000 women lose their lives during pregnancy or childbirth each year while around 4 million babies are stillborn or die in their first month of life. Tragically, the majority of these deaths are preventable.
Dr Catherine Hamlin was determined to provide treatment for women living with devastating childbirth injuries. But she was also determined to prevent them from occurring, and to ensure more women in rural Ethiopia had access to professional and compassionate care.
That’s why she established the Hamlin College of Midwives in 2007. Here, each student undertakes a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Midwifery and commits to working as a Hamlin Midwife for a minimum of four years following their graduation.
The essential role of rural midwives
To date, over 270 graduates have been deployed back to their local areas to work in Hamlin-supported clinics, where their skills are desperately needed. The impact they have is truly remarkable - when a Hamlin midwife arrives in a rural community, new cases of obstetric fistula drop to almost zero in nearby villages.
Hamlin Midwives also provide essential and life-saving post-natal care, and help new mothers care for their newborns. This includes advice on breastfeeding, family planning and immunizations.
Gadissie, a Hamlin Midwife in Watar, explains: “Hamlin Midwives are very important in the community. We are working to prevent obstetric fistula. We diagnose obstructed labor early and take action. We teach about the importance of institutional delivery, antenatal care, immunization and other things to give awareness to the community.”
According to the World Health Organization, investing in maternal and newborn health not only reduces preventable deaths, but leads to economic progress and healthier, stronger societies.
Learn more about Hamlin Midwives and how they are helping to create a fistula-free Ethiopia.
