Health Ministry Calls For Countries To Boost Investments In Midwifery

Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Hon. Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, has called on World Health Organization (WHO) member states to accelerate investments in midwifery.

She said there is need for high-quality education and training of midwives and midwife-led improvements to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health workforce (SRMNAH) service delivery, and midwifery leadership and governance.

She was speaking at a recent virtual event to launch the State of the World’s Midwifery 2021 Report (SoWMy 2021).

Mrs. Cuthbert-Flynn said that the publication was timely, noting that it “clearly highlighted that there are too few midwives in the world”.

“According to the SoWMy 2021 there is a current global needs-based shortage of 1.1 million dedicated SRMNAH equivalent workers, of which 900,000 are midwives,” she noted.

The State Minister indicated that in Jamaica’s context, the country is functioning at 50 per cent of its actual midwifery capacity.

“It is troubling that, as forecast, the gap in the workforce needs will continue to widen by the year 2030, undermining the achievements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” she lamented, adding that the inequitable distribution of midwives across countries is an impediment to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

State Minister Cuthbert-Flynn said that in resolving these challenges, there is need for greater investments in creating more midwifery jobs, strengthening education and training, cultivating health policy leadership, as well as providing safer and more supportive work environments.

She pointed out that nurses and midwives make up more than half the healthcare workforce worldwide and are the backbone of health systems.

She contended that, in keeping with what is called for in SoWMy 2021, the global and national investments in these areas should be bold.

“There is now a large body of evidence, which shows that investing in midwives facilitates positive birth experiences, improves health outcomes, increases workforce supply, favours inclusive and equitable growth, facilitates economic stabilisation and can have a positive macroeconomic impact.

“It is for this very reason that Jamaica welcomes that there is clear evidence in the SoWMy 2021 report, which points and commits to an agenda that will drive and sustain progress to 2030,” Mrs. Cuthbert Flynn said.

The State Minister noted Jamaica’s appreciation for the report and indicated that the data provided will be used as a benchmark against which to evaluate the country’s situation.  She gave the commitment that the information would also be used to “reposition and strengthen the health workforce generally and the nursing and midwifery professions specifically, to meet the changing needs and the new normal”.

Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, in her foreword in the SoWMy 2021, indicates that the document is a guide to governments and their partners on how and where attention and resources should be allocated in order to maximise efficiencies from investing in midwives and the infrastructure that sustains and supports them.