ACNM Partners with Key Leaders in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health to Improve Quality of Care in Developing Countries

American College of Nurse-Midwives Department of Global Outreach to Share Resources and Expertise with Historic Global Development Alliance

For Immediate Release:
June 14, 2012

Contact: Melissa Garvey
Office: (240) 485-1826
E-mail: [email protected]



Silver Spring, MD - The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is pleased to work with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and five other leading maternal and child health organizations in the historic global development alliance announced today by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. As part of the initiative - Survive and Thrive: Professional Associations, Private Sector, and Global Health Scholars Saving Mothers, Newborns, and Children - the ACNM Department of Global Outreach aims to improve survival rates for women and children in medically underserved countries around the world.

The new alliance will mobilize US midwifery, obstetric, and pediatric associations with USAID, the private sector, and civil society organizations in an innovative partnership to improve the quality of facility-based maternal, newborn, and child health services to reduce preventable maternal and child deaths in developing countries.

"As the largest US midwifery association, ACNM has a wealth of expertise in ensuring that expert health care providers are available to women throughout the United States," said ACNM President Holly Powell Kennedy, CNM, PhD, FACNM, FAAN. "To elevate the exceptional midwifery care that women in the United States receive to a global level, the ACNM Department of Global Outreach has worked for the past three decades to improve the health and well-being of women and infants by making high-quality midwifery care available in nearly 40 countries worldwide."

Survive and Thrive draws upon the resources and expertise of some of the most respected US and global organizations in maternal and child health. The alliance aims to provide critical, essential health care interventions during the time when mothers and their children are most vulnerable - from pregnancy through childbirth, and childhood through age 5. The partnership will expand clinical competencies among health professionals who care for women, newborns, and children; scale up quality improvement processes and approaches; bring affordable technologies and innovative educational materials and products to health professionals and their patients, accelerate efforts to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these programs so that they can be scaled accordingly; and create learning opportunities for emerging global health leaders.

"High-quality midwifery care is a critical need throughout the world and that need is often unmet in many developing countries resulting in devastating consequences for mothers and babies," said Suzanne Stalls, CNM, director of the ACNM Department of Global Outreach. "We're excited to collaborate with our global partners in improving education and sustainable health care models to serve women not just in the United States, but throughout the world."

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Johnson & Johnson, Laerdal Global Health, and Save the Children have signed on to the partnership, initiated by USAID, to increase the availability of high-quality, high-impact maternal, newborn, and child health services in health facilities around the world. More organizations are expected-and encouraged-to participate.

"None of us wants to live in a world where a child's life comes down to luck of the draw," said Secretary Clinton. "Survive and Thrive will connect healthcare professionals with their counterparts in low- and middle-income countries so they can share insights and strengthen their skills in caring for mothers, newborns, and young children."

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For more information, please contact Melissa Garvey, ACNM Communications Manager at (240) 485-1826 or via e-mail at [email protected].



About the American College of Nurse-Midwives

The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is the professional association that represents certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) in the United States. ACNM promotes excellence in midwifery education, clinical practice, and research. With roots dating to 1929, our members are primary care providers for women throughout the lifespan, with a special emphasis on pregnancy, childbirth, and gynecologic and reproductive health. ACNM provides research, administers and promotes continuing education programs, establishes midwifery education and clinical practice standards, and creates liaisons with state and federal agencies and members of Congress to increase the visibility and recognition of midwifery care.

About Survive & Thrive
Globally, more than 280,000 women do not survive pregnancy and childbirth. More than 7 million children die before their fifth birthday; 3.1 million of these are newborns. The unprecedented approach of Survive & Thrive aligns with the US Government's Global Health Initiative goal of reducing maternal mortality by 30 percent and child mortality by 35 percent and supports the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for maternal and child health. The alliance aims to magnify its impact on these goals in several ways. It will "twin" members of US professional health care associations with in-country professional association members to encourage learning and development through a peer-to-peer and partnership approach. This effort also seeks to mobilize and equip senior volunteer members from US, international, and national professional associations to strengthen the skills of health workers and champion maternal, newborn, and child health programs in developing countries. In addition, the alliance will nurture emerging leaders in global health by creating Global Health Fellows, a new kind of internship opportunity for clinicians who are at the beginning of their careers. Fellows will have an opportunity to learn in low-resource settings, in conjunction with leading US and in-country professional experts to nurture a passion for global health, and go on to become teachers themselves, building the skills of future clinicians.