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After a comprehensive review of the global midwifery landscape and the industry events and publications that will take place in 2021, ICM has decided on a theme for International Day of the Midwife that nods to this year’s launch of the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) report and other evidence on the impact of midwives.
To that end, the theme for this year’s IDM is:
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Next month, ICM will share an IDM toolkit to support our member associations, partner organisations, healthcare professionals, women’s groups and midwives everywhere in advocating for midwife-led care and other top industry priorities.
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ICM has launched its 2021-2023 Strategic Plan! Read the below message from our President, Franka Cadée on the importance and significance of this plan for midwives and the communities they care for.
Happy 2021, global midwife community!
As a midwife and President of the International Confederation of Midwives, I’m thrilled to be launching our new 2021-2023 Strategic Plan. This plan outlines ICM’s strategic priorities for the next three years and provides an overview of how we intend to action these priorities.
We see this plan as fundamental in our efforts to generate sustainable change toward a world where every mother and newborn across the world receives quality sexual and reproductive health care from a midwife, operating as autonomous professionals in an enabling environment.
It makes me proud that the process of developing the 2021-2023 Strategic Plan was more inclusive than ever. ICM engaged in extensive consultation with key partners and donors, including our 143 Midwives’ Associations and the more than 1 million midwives they represent. We see this comprehensive approach as a way of ensuring ICM represents the needs and aspirations of the communities we serve. From this consultation process, ICM developed the following strategic priorities:
- Drive innovation and sustainability for the future of midwifery.
- Develop, strengthen, and support the rollout of a new professional framework for midwifery.
- Foster a movement for midwifery, enabling and strengthening partnerships, advocacy, and communications for midwifery, with women’s voices at the centre.
All elements of this strategic plan have been developed and will be delivered with a gender lens. ICM's wish is that every midwife and partner in our global community stands united in support of this bold and ambitious strategy. If we have learned anything from the past year it’s that real, large-scale change is only possible when we work together.
With the timeline of the Sustainable Development Goals just a decade away, there’s never been a more crucial time to come together and invest in our future and in midwives and their life-saving work. This Strategy positions ICM as a convener of this global effort as well as an expert in creating, advising, influencing, and enabling the profession of midwifery.
- Franka Cadée, President of the International Confederation of Midwives
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ICM's Midwifery Education Accreditation Programme (MEAP) seeks to evaluate pre-service midwifery educational programmes against ICM's Global Standards for Midwifery Education.
In November of 2020, Kibogora Polytechnic in Rwanda received the first-ever MEAP accreditation. Kibogora’s Advanced Diploma in Midwifery is a three-year direct entry programme that qualifies midwives for registration in Rwanda. Ultimately, this accreditation represents a pathway toward improved midwife-led care for women and newborns.
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Thank you to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding this round of MEAP.
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We’re thrilled to be launching a new interactive report on the 50,000 Happy Birthdays project. From 2018 to 2020, ICM led and implemented this project in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania, contributing to quality, midwife-led care and saving lives at birth. Now, we’re sharing key learnings, stories and life-saving results from the project to inspire and guide like-minded initiatives.
A few of our proudest achievements from 50,000 Happy Birthdays include:
- A roughly 57% drop in mortality rates at participating facilities
- 28,500 training episodes delivered
- +20,000 individuals trained in at least one training module
Thank-you to our in-country project managers from Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania for bringing this project to life, and thank-you to project partners and funders from Laerdal Global Health, Jhpiego, American Academy of Pediatrics and Latter-Day Saint Charities for making this lifesaving work possible.
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A newly released textbook for midwives offers comprehensive and in-depth knowledge on global midwifery and outlines the contributions of skilled professional midwives to the provision of high-quality maternity care and reductions in maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity.
The textbook relies on ICM standards and resources, as well as anecdotes from our Midwives’ Associations to provide readers with an extensive introduction to global midwifery.
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This year’s Virtual Triennial Congress will take place throughout the month of June, across all global time zones and will provide midwives with opportunities to advance their careers, discover the latest midwifery research and establish new personal and professional relationships.
Here are just a few reasons why you should register:
- A number of incredible panels and workshops with leading thinkers in the global health space
- Live chats with leading professional experts
- “Matching” programmes designed to link delegates from around the world who share similar interests and professional aspirations
- Exhibitions that allow delegates to "walk" and move about digital spaces, interacting with ICM partners and other attendees.
We look forward to sharing the Congress programme with our global midwife community shortly, and providing regular Congress updates in every issue of this monthly newsletter.
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Every month, our Board prepares a briefer to keep our global midwife community informed about its activities and the strategic direction of ICM. Click on the link below to access the January briefer and find out how our Board Members are working to strengthen midwifery globally.
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