I am really looking forward to International Day of the Midwife on May 5th. I will be at the RCM celebrations in Edinburgh where we will be hosting a conference “Midwives for a better tomorrow ” .Here is a brief overview of the conference and of course I will be tweeting all things IDM on the day.Please blog, tweet,Facebook and share what you are doing to celebrate IDM 2015.
The morning will be chaired by RCM’s President Professor Lesley Page CBE. We will hear from many high profile speakers including ICM’s Frances Day-Stirk about the State of the Worlds midwifery report a key report for women’s health at a global level and published in 2014. We will also hear from Professor Mary Renfrew , professor of Mother and Infant Health at the University of Dundee and an author of one of the most important research series published -” The Lancet Midwifery Series” (June 2014).Mary will discuss the importance of the Lancet series,the evidence and how this should be used to influence midwifery across the world. How we should refocuse the conversation around midwifery and why midwifery is a vital solution to the challenges of providing high-quality maternal and newborn care for all women and newborn infants, in all countries.
Frances McConville from WHO is speaking about the landmark global action plan led by UNICEF and WHO. This is based on the latest epidemiology evidence where the global and country learning outline a strategy to prevent 2.9 million newborn deaths and 2.6 million stillbirths annually and setting specific targets for all countries to achieve by 2035. Frances will set out the vision of a world in which there are no preventable deaths of newborns or stillbirths, where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth celebrated, and women, babies and children survive, thrive and reach their full potential.
Other speakers include Nina Murry from the Scottish Refugee Council who will highlight the Scottish approach to tackling FGM. RCM global advisor Yana Richens will speak about the role of the midwife in FGM prevention.
The afternoon will be chaired by Louise Silverton RCM Director of Midwifery and Professor Cathy Warwick CBE, RCM chief executive.They will facilitate speakers and panel discussions on global midwifery. A presentation on The RCM Global Midwifery Twinning Project: How we did it, what it achieved and what we learned-will be led by Joy Kemp, Global Advisor and followed by a panel with a GMTP volunteer,a HOM, a researcher, myself and Joy where the delegates can join in the discussions.
All in all it is going to be a fantastic day of celebrations for International Day of the Midwife 2015.
