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Saturday, May 19, 2012

  
                

ICM President Frances Day-Stirk celebrates the achievements of midwives worldwide in improving maternal and child health. Evidence shows that midwives save lives and are key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals targeted at mothers and babies. But the hard-won rights of midwives, and the right of every mother to have the help of a midwife, need to be closely valued and guarded.

Watch the video here.

       Investing in midwifery pays, say Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA and Agneta S Bridges, Secretary General of ICM in this Joint Statement for the International Day of the Midwife.

Read the statement here    French version    Spanish version    Arabic Version

                   'Prescribe a midwife' and save the lives of pregnant women and their babies say Professor Gamal I Serour, President of the International Federation of Gynegology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and Frances Day-Stirk, President ICM in this joint statement to mark the 20th International Day of the Midwife.

Read the statement here    French version    Spanish version

Latest news

8 May 2012 Is Monrovia the toughest place to be a Midwife? The BBC think so - check out the TV programme that follows a UK midwife who leaves a maternity unit in Sutton Coldfield to work in Monrovia. See the programme here.

  
        

7 May 2012 The International Journal of Childbirth, the official publication of the International Confederation of Midwives, is currently seeking authors who are willing to contribute articles concerning the practice of midwifery, women's health, prenatal care, and the birth process. The journal encourages the exploration of the complex and contextual issues surrounding childbirth provision and outcomes and invites manuscripts from a wide range of clinical, theoretical, political, methodological, psychological, public health, policy, and multicultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. Read more

5 May 2012 The International Day of the Midwife is here! All over the world midwives are celebrating. Read some of their messages on ICM's Facebook page. Here's a lovely inspiring message from Bulgarian Midwives. We stand together on this day and every day to make the world a better and safer place from mothers and their babies:

On this International Day of the Midwife, Alliance of Bulgarian Midwives, wish you a wonderful day and stand by the idea of making that day different.We are making events for the first time in Bulgaria and we support all the midwives, all over the world.We believe that the mothers and the babies, have the fundamental right to be healthy.
We are dreaming that some day, they will choose how and where to give birth. We believe that every woman, mother, baby and child deserves qualified care, given by midwives.We hope that some day we will work together with you and today the midwives in Bulgaria will be together, because we want to change the system and make the world a better place, for all of us!  Midwives save lives!  With love!
Alliance of Bulgarian midwives

 

 4 May 2012 Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth features the first-ever estimates of preterm birth rates by country and is authored by a broad group of 45 international multi-disciplinary experts from 11 countries, with almost 50 organizations in support. This report is written in support of all families who have been touched by preterm birth. This report is written in support of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health and the efforts of Every Woman Every Child, led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Read it here.

4 May 2012 Maternal and newborn health leaders, and experienced clinicians and program managers meet today in Dhaka, Bangladesh for an Asia Regional meeting focused on postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), pre-eclampsia / eclampsia (PE/E) and other aspects of maternal and newborn health. ICM are one of the sponsors. View the live webcast here.

1 May 2012 A new Midwives Association is to be formed in the Caribbean with an overall goal of strengthening midwifery in the region. The idea for the new Caribbean Regional Midwives Association (CRMA) came from a regional meeting of midwives in Trinidad in April. Delegates from 13 countries attended the meeting, hosted by the Trinidad & Tobago Association of Midwives (TTAM) with support from ICM; PAHO; USAID; MCHIP; and Jhpiego.

1 May 2012  Lot's of exciting things happening in Midwifery Associations across the world as Midwives and their supporters get ready to CELEBRATE the International Day of the Midwife on Saturday May 5. You can read some of ther exciting events on ICM's Facebook page here, and add your comments and activities. Let's make it a day to remember!!

 Older news items can be read here
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The ICM Website is changing, to better reflect the work ICM is doing worldwide to advance the profession of midwifery and improve the health of women and their children. We are about to begin the design stage and welcome your comments or suggestions of how a new website can be of greater value to you. To make your suggestions click here
Welcome to the International Confederation of Midwives

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) supports, represents and works to strengthen professional associations of midwives throughout the world. ICM represents over 250,000 professional members through 108 midwifery associations in 98 countries. ICM works with midwives and midwifery associations globally to secure women’s right and access to midwifery care before, during and after childbirth. 

We have worked alongside UN agencies and other partners for decades in global initiatives to help reduce the numbers of mothers and babies who die in and around childbirth. Evidence is growing that midwifery care is one of the most effective ways to combat maternal and infant mortality. The State of the World's Midwifery 2011, published by UNFPA last year, demonstrates conclusively how midwives save lives of mothers and babies. (Read more here)

The drive for safer motherhood continues to gain strength as more women worldwide achieve access to midwifery care. Our vision is for a world where every woman has access to a midwife's care for herself and her baby.

On this website you will discover more about ICM and our member associations. You will be able to find out more about what we do and access many helpful and informative publications.

If you have any suggestions about how we can make the website better for you, please contact us.
  

Quick links
  

Conferences and Events

May 31 - June 1 2012   Bynkers Hoek Institute, The Netherlands      Human Rights in Childbirth 

7 July 2012 Bintulu Sarawak, East Malaysia  Sarawak Midwives Association Biennial General Meeting

24 - 26 July 2012 Hanoi, Vietnam     ICM Asia-Pacific Regional Conference      Submit an abstract

24 - 26 August 2012 Wellington, New Zealand  NZ College of Midwives 12th Biennial National Conference 

7-12 October 2012 Rome, Italy     XX FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics    Submit an Abstract

25-28 October, 2012 Hangzhou, China  Normal Labour and Birth - 7th International Research Conference    Submit an Abstract

8-23 May 2013 Melbourne, Australia     25th Quadrennial Congress of the International Council of Nurses
  

Keeping you in touch

Follow ICM on twitter Connect with ICM on LinkedIn Follow ICM on Facebook

  

Strengthening Midwifery education

ICM Global standards for midwifery education are one of the essential pillars of ICM’s efforts to strengthen midwifery worldwide by preparing fully qualified midwives to provide high quality, evidence-based health services for women,newborns, and childbearing families. 

The education standards were developed in tandem with the update of essential competencies for basic midwifery practice, which define the core content of any midwifery education programme.
midwifery_education_ICM

Global education standards
taskforce co-Chairs Joyce 
Thompson and Angela 
Sawyer talk about the standards 
development process and the 
need for global midwifery 
education standards 

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Midwives Save Lives

Compelling evidence that Midwives Save Lives

    

The State of the World's Midwifery Report, launched at the ICM Triennial Congress in Durban in June 2011, provides compelling statistical evidence for the vital role midwives play in saving lives of mothers and babies. 

Behind the report stand some of the key international partners in maternal and reproductive health. Based on data gathered via UN and partner representatives (UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF,etc) from 58 countries all over the world, it highlights the importance of ICM's mission to strengthen midwifery around the world. And it demonstrates how increasing the number of trained midwives will substantially reduce mother and baby deaths globally.

It is essential reading for anyone concerned about the health of women and children.

Read all about it here.
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