Laerdal highlights from the 33rd ICM Triennial Congress in Bali, Indonesia
Together again
After a 6-year pause due to Covid-19, more than 2400 midwives and maternal and newborn health leaders from around the world gathered at the recent International Confederation of Midwives Congress in Bali, Indonesia. The theme of the congress was “Together Again – From Evidence to Reality.”
Here’s a brief recap of our presence together with our partners.
Helping put the global standards of midwifery into practice
As supported by a 2021 Lancet study, midwives play a vital role in reducing maternal and newborn mortality, especially in low and middle-income countries where 95% of maternal and newborn deaths occur. It is estimated that at least 900,000 more midwives are needed by 2035. If trained to the global ICM standards, it is estimated that 4.3 million more mothers and newborns could survive.
To help meet this gap, we have co-developed a new training solution with ICM that was launched at the ICM 2023 Congress, the ICM Midwifery Competencies Tool. This is a digital practice tool to help midwifery educators prepare students for clinical practice. It consists of 50 peer-to-peer practice sessions covering the full spectrum of ICM competencies, helping students get the critical knowledge, skills, and professional behaviors required when entering midwifery practice. The solution is being released in selected markets.
"It's a very good platform to practice as students, and it guides you on the procedure you're doing and the steps to be taken as you conduct that procedure."
“We need to educate more midwives, but we also need to set them up to succeed, educate them, and bring them into an enabling environment.”