KARACHI: First Lady Samina Arif Alvi on Saturday stressed the need recognize midwifery as a respectable profession in the country.
Talking to a delegation of National Committee of Maternal and Neonatal Health (NCM&NH) here, she said across the globe it was a midwife and not a doctor, who performed the essential task of delivering babies and provided first-level care to the mothers and the newborn children.
Samina Alvi appreciated the fact that the Medical Corps of Pakistan Armed Forces had a separate cadre for midwives, who were also given ranks like other medical professionals.
“Being a mother and woman myself, I understand the importance of midwives and also their relevance in our particular context,” she said.
She assured the NCM&NH delegation led by its Secretary-General Mrs Imtiaz Kamal, the pioneer of the profession in the country, that she would help forward their suggestions for strengthening of the profession to the Ministry of National Health Services.
Later talking to APP, she said properly trained midwives could play a crucial role in preventing avoidable maternal and neonatal deaths, and contribute towards the concept of safe motherhood at the grassroots levels, in both rural and urban areas.
She agreed that there was a need to change the mindset about the profession through concerted efforts at every level.
The NCM&NH delegation that also included Dr Azra Ahsan, Dr Maryam Waqas and Maliha Noor, said midwifery must be treated as a separate and full-fledged profession and not as an allied subject of nursing.
Mrs Kamal particularly sought that a day be dedicated to the profession of midwifery and that the federal government might hold a Midwifery Conference – 2020 so as to help achieve due recognition for the profession followed by concerted measures to update training and capacity building of women/girls joining the profession.
