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Report on the 5th Regional Meeting in Suriname
Midwives traveled from across the Americas Region this summer to participate in a conference sponsored by the International Confederation of Midwives. Midwifery autonomy, advocacy, collaboration, and research were the focus of the ICM Americas Regional Meeting in Paramaribo, Suriname in July. The conference provided a unique venue for knowledge-sharing between midwifery organizations from North America, South America, and the Caribbean. The scientific program featured presentations from Canada, Trinidad, Chile, Jamaica, Argentina, the USA, and many others, addressing the conference theme: “Invest in Healthy Pregnancy: Invest in Midwives.”
NACPM Executive Director, Mary Lawlor, CPM, and board member, Autumn Vergo, CPM, represented NACPM and CPMs at the Regional Conference. NACPM was honored to be accepted as a member of the ICM in 2014 and was privileged to attend our first-ever ICM governing council meeting and the 30th Triennial Congress in Prague in June 2014. NACPM is committed to a robust support for the work of the ICM, and Mary and Autumn were pleased to represent CPMs and visit with midwives from our own hemisphere in the beautiful country of Suriname this summer.
NACPM membership in ICM supports CPM participation in this world-wide community of 121 midwifery associations and over 300,000 midwives from around the world. In our own country, NACPM has led in all aspects of the work of US MERA (link to 2015 US MERA Annual Report). CPMs and CNM/CMs are working together through the US MERA collaboration to strengthen midwifery in our country by aligning with the ICM vision for an autonomous midwifery profession around the globe – for the sake of saving lives and improving the health of women and babies everywhere.
This summer’s Regional ICM meeting featured a discussion based on results from ICM’s first regional survey of the recent challenges and successes of midwifery associations in the Americas. The survey assessed key priorities including advocacy, autonomy, collaboration, research and education. Discussion reviewed challenges and successes in each area, and associations seeking informational or strategic support had the opportunity to learn what had worked for other associations.
We encourage you to explore the vision and work of the ICM and the US MERA collaboration, and to work with NACPM in strengthening midwifery in the U.S. and around the world.
With all best wishes,
Mary Lawlor, CPM NACPM
Executive Director
Midwifery in Suriname
The Republic of Suriname, pop. 566,000, is the smallest sovereign state in South America, and is located on the northeast Atlantic coast. The former Dutch colony opened its first midwifery school in the 1960s, and this year’s regional meeting was attended by many of Suriname’s student midwives. As the host country, Suriname’s midwife-driven successes in the area of maternal-child health were highlighted, including a “zero tolerance” malaria program, a 92% skilled-birth-attendant rate, a significant reduction in mother-to-baby transmission of HIV, and a 35% reduction in infant mortality over the past several years. Challenges in Suriname include care access limited by extremely dense and rugged jungle terrain in the country’s interior, a suboptimal (40%) contraceptive utilization rate, and maternal and infant mortality rates that lag behind the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals
Some of Suriname’s health challenges are shared by countries throughout the Americas region, such as rising rates of chronic disease, like diabetes and hypertension, in women of childbearing age.
About the International Confederation of Midwives
ICM’s global mission is to strengthen midwifery associations and advance professional midwifery worldwide by promoting autonomous midwives as the most appropriate caregivers for childbearing women. The next International Congress and Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada in 2017; the 2020 congress is slated for Bali, Indonesia. Asociación de Obstetras del Paraguay will host the next America’s Regional Meeting and Conference in Asuncion, Paraguay, the first week of October in 2018.