In association with the British High Commission in Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organised a dissemination seminar on Wednesday 1 June 2022, at the auditorium of DGNM in Dhaka, to share findings of two studies on midwifery in Bangladesh.ARK Foundation conducted one of the studies titled ‘Strengthening Midwifery in Bangladesh – Lessons learnt’ with the support of FCDO’s South Asia Research Hub at the seminar. The study was presented at the seminar by Professor Rumana Huque, PhD, Executive Director, ARK Foundation.Mr. Md. Saiful Hassan Badal, the Honorable Secretary of the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare graced the occasion as Chief Guest. HE Mr. Robert Chatterton Dickson, the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dr. Vibhavendra Raghuyamshi, the Chief of Health, UNFPA, Bangladesh, Dr. Daniel Novac, First Secretary, Embassy of Sweden in Bangladesh attended the seminar with over hundred representatives from different ministries, development partners, implementing agencies,midwifery institutions, and student midwives.
The two independent studies focused on the lessons learnt while strengthening midwifery in Bangladesh, and pathways to women’s empowerment through midwifery education. The findings indicate that the UK Government’s support helped the Government of Bangladesh increase deployment and utilize the diploma holder midwives which greatly improved women’s access to safe childbirth, over the last three years. In 2021, the midwives, deployed in 403 Upazila Health Complexes (UzHCs), conducted 87 per cent of the total deliveries at those UzHCs. In 2018, the percentage was only 24.
