Midwife Connection

by Cassie Moore, ACNM Writer and Editor

Every day around the world, 1000 women and 2000 babies die from causes that could be prevented if only they had a midwife or other health care worker attending to them. ACNM recently sent a letter and petition to US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius urging US government support for more midwives worldwide, but individual midwives can and should take action, too!

This week, the United Nationals General Assembly is discussing the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Representatives from the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood will be in attendance at the UN meeting to campaign for more, better supported, and better educated health care workers, specifically midwives.

You can show your support for the White Ribbon Alliance’s (WRA) efforts with the following steps:

• Visit health workers count and join hundreds of organizations calling for more and better supported health workers.
  
  
• Add your name to the health worker statement as an individual or an organization.
  
  
• Add your health worker story to the blog page.
  
  
• Tweet stories of health workers using the #healthworkers hashtag or follow @WRAGlobal and @healthworkers and retweet the content to your followers.
  
  
• Download campaign materials with more details on how you can take action.
  
  
• Visit the Stories of Midwives page to read about how midwives are saving lives around the world.
  
  
• Visit the WRA Blog for stories of how WRA members and front line health workers are taking action for women and children around the world.