Midwifery's re-birth in PNG
A $10 million maternal and child health initiative in Papua New Guinea (PNG), led by the UTS World Health Organization's Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development (WHO CC) and funded by the Australian Government, is beginning a new phase this year. While proving highly successful in raising the quality of midwifery education in PNG, it still faces many challenges in helping end our neighbour's high rates of maternal and child death.
In a crowded Port Moresby hospital ward, just one hour north of Australia, a midwife attends to a young woman giving birth. As any caring professional would, she prays for no complications. However, troubled birth or not, the midwife knows she won't have time to stay until the end of the procedure. With only rudimentary supplies and equipment on hand, she will see over twenty mothers-to-be that day, many of them lined up in the corridor outside.
When Adjunct Professor Pat Brodie first visited PNG 15 years ago, she was shocked to say the least.
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