Nurse Practitioner In Midwifery: The Government of India has taken a much welcomed first step approving the policy for introducing a professional cadre of Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery (NPMs) who will add quality to maternity care. NPMs will be selected from the existing pool of trained nurse-midwives and provided additional specialized clinical training and examination to achieve an NPM licensed and regulated by the Indian Nursing Council. This policy decision was taken in December 2018, and now there is an urgent need for establishing training institutions, selecting and training Midwives and demonstrating that Indian Midwives can meet global standards prescribed. The challenge is doing this at the scale India needs.
Vision
A vision of the necessary progress has been laid out in the Midwifery Roadmap. Once training is institutionalised, the current Maternal Child Health teams of care providers will welcome the NPMs to shoulder the bulk of in-patient maternity care workers. They will soon develop clearly understood and supportive working relationships. Questions on accountability of midwives in the public health system through explicit rules and regulations that allow them to practice urgently still need to be addressed. With a well-crafted career progression path, Nurse practitioner role will become more frequent, and nurses will join stemming the outmigration of nurses looking for professional growth.
Also Read: Positive India: True Story of a Corona Warrior Medical Professional
State governments
State governments have taken up the task and are build up their capacity for implementation of midwifery-led care with a robust application, governance and monitoring framework and effectively position NPMs as a separate, professional cadre through adequate education, regulatory and legal support and investment in workforce development.
Skills
Finally, leadership skills of midwives and midwifery associations in India have to be adequately enhanced, and midwives must be a part of the policy and decision-making processes. Drawing on the vast body of expertise of midwives across the country, policy and strategic decisions will significantly improve the sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn health outcomes. For example, the loved experiences and insights of practising midwives during COVID-19 can prove very useful in formulating health care strategies going forward so that the public health system remains responsive and resilient amidst crises and disasters.
Women's Health
Strengthening midwifery is part of the broader strategy to not only enhance the system of health and quality of care but also for gender equality, women’s empowerment and combating gender-based violence. ANMs and Midwives can then become champions for equity in their communities and partner with women. As protectors and defenders of women’s rights, they will be able to fill in the gaps in psycho-social support so many needs. White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, for which C3 is the Secretariat, supports midwifery because advocating for Midwives is advocating for a gender-equal world where all girls and women’s rights are respected and upheld.
Read more articles on Health News