Midwifery Association of Pakistan (MAP), in collaboration with UNFPA, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health, organized the first Regional Midwifery Summit on 9th and 10th of October 2019, in Karachi. MAP is also organized 14 pre-summit workshops for practicing midwives in different schools of midwifery and hospitals in Karachi. GreenStar Marketing also participated in the insightful summit.
This year’s theme of Midwifery Summit was: “Midwives – The Defenders of Women’s rights”. More than six hundred midwives participated from all over the country, including Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Hunza region, etc. Learned speakers and practitioners from SAARC countries, Indonesia, Ireland, Turkey, Bahrain, Australia Thailand and UK also shared their experiences.
Health Minister of Sindh – Dr. AzraPechuho chaired the closing ceremony in the evening of 9th October. She stated that: Midwifery is a difficult profession, dealing with the health of women, so the Midwives from different parts of Pakistan must continue to communicate and coordinate with each other through different platforms, forums and media, to keep the community engaged, for understanding the challenges and opportunities in the maternal health sector.
The UNFPA Representative to Pakistan – Ms. Lina Mousa addressed the inaugural session, along with Ms. ShielaSuguru from Ireland, to give an update about the practices of midwifery in the modern world. Other prominent speakers at the summit included; Prof SadiqaJaffery – a leading gynecologist from NCMH, President of MAP – Ms. Arusa Lakhani, President Pakistan Nursing Council and its Director of Nursing.
Scientific sessions were held on 10th of October 2019, from morning till evening in six different halls of the Marriot hotel in Karachi, where experts from the national and international faculty of midwifery education spoke about different roles of midwives in the profession. The main topics discussed at the Summit included; Family-Planning and reproductive health, Midwives and maternal death, Morbidity, Role of midwives in community and Home-care for pregnant women.
Other key subjects were; Research in midwifery practices, Domestic violence, prevention of fistula, Kangaroo care for premature babies, innovation in pain management, Maternity Units, Managing pregnant women with dignity, obstetrical emergencies, community-based family planning, cultural contradictions, mental health during pregnancy, population, etc.
Tehreek-e-Niswaan and the renowned artist; SheemaKirmani presented an inspiring play during the inaugural session, to highlight the lives of a midwife working in Mithi, Tharparkar, along with another midwife in Baldia Town – an underprivileged area of Karachi.
Midwives from foreign countries continued to conduct their post-summit workshops for the students and practicing midwives in different hospitals of Karachi. The organizers were committed to ensure that this conference helped the midwives in developing more skills, by gaining more knowledge about the modern techniques and technologies.