Published 30 April 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1763
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1763

News

Investing in midwives is essential to reduce maternal mortality in fragile states

Peter Moszynski

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Reducing maternal mortality worldwide is a key component of the United Nations’ millennium development goals, but it will not happen without much greater investment in the training and deployment of skilled birth attendants, says a report issued this week by the British medical charity Merlin, as part of its "Hands up for health workers" campaign.

All Mothers Matter, which was launched to coincide with international day of the midwife on 5 May, points out a direct link between the highest rates of maternal mortality and what it calls "the health worker crisis in fragile states."

The report recommends doubling the healthcare workforce in these fragile states (defined as countries where the government cannot or will not deliver core functions to the majority of its people) and delivering the required number of midwives to ensure that the fifth millennium development goal—to cut the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters from . . . [Full text of this article]


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