06.05.2025
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Spotlight on midwives’ role in maternal and newborn health

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  • A newborn laying in a crib.

3 minutes

Monday marks International Day of the Midwife. The day is celebrated to highlight the role midwives play in humanitarian and emergency settings around the world.

However, a midwife working at Mhlava Wellem Clinic outside Giyani in Limpopo says poor infrastructure makes it difficult for them to perform their duties to full capacity.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) a midwife is a skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate healthcare professional who provides comprehensive care to childbearing women and newborn infants. The care includes prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum support, as well as newborn care.

Florance Chauke has been a midwife for the past 30 years, working at Mhlava Wellem Clinic.

Chauke says for midwives to adequately respond to patients and save lives, they must be equipped with enough resources.

“The infrastructure of our facility is failing us because if we were to practice RMC, RMC is where you need to give birth with your birth companion. So, it needs space. So, our facility does not have that enough space and that program can assist us a lot to save the mothers and the children. But we are failing because of some limitations … the shortage of staff, you are one midwife and you have to deliver so many patients in a time,” says Chauke.

Chauke says, despite the challenge, she continues to support women as they bring new life into the world.

Limpopo Obstetrics Response team chairperson, Dr Dakalo Muavha says midwives are the frontline guardians of maternal and newborn health.

“The people who are like the foundation of a building, when you are building a beautiful building, you see the windows and the roof and you hardly forget that there is a foundation. When I did my first caesarean section, yes, I was supported by a doctor, but the person who was more experienced was a midwife with us during a C-section. My first delivery was when I was trained at the University of Pretoria during my third year. I was shown by a midwife,” says Muavha.

Limpopo’s Health MEC, Dieketseng Mashego advises midwives to never underestimate the impact they have in society.

“We need to appreciate our midwives. We do appreciate them enough for the role that they are playing in everyone’s life. They are serving the most vulnerable, and we need to appreciate them as a department. We will not sit and not assist. As we commemorate the International Day of a Midwife, the theme of midwives is critical under every crisis. Midwives are not only caregivers; they are advocates educators and pillars of strength. They stand at the forefront of maternal and child health ensuring that even women have supported during the most critical time of her life,” says Mashego.

The International Day of the Midwife was established in 1992 by the International Confederation of Midwives.

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