News
A mother in Zimbabwe delivers four “miracle” babies
29 December 20141
News
UN calls for intensified efforts to end fistula
23 December 20141
News
Abandoning Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation in the Afar Region of Ethiopia
08 April 20101
News
Midwives Deliver for the Women of the World
02 May 20131
Press Release
Reproductive health care critical for pregnant women affected by Typhoon Hagupit
09 December 20141
News
In race to save women's lives, solutions are within reach, says UNFPA head
21 September 20141
Publications
The Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security: Annual Report 2013
Number of pages: 104
Publication date: 14 November 2014
Author: UNFPA
Publisher: UNFPA
1
Resources
Good Practices on Ending the Health and Human Rights Tragedy of Obstetric Fistula
Resource date: 2013
Author: UNFPA
Publisher: UNFPA
Obstetric fistula is a severe morbidity caused when a woman or girl suffers from prolonged obstructed labour without timely access to emergency obstetric care, notably a Caesarean section. The sustained pressure of the baby’s head on the mother’s pelvic bone damages her soft tissues, creating a hole – or fistula – between the vagina and the bladder and/or rectum. In most cases, the baby is stillborn or dies soon after birth, and the woman suffers a devastating injury – a fistula - that renders her incontinent.
The Midwifery Programme Guidance has been developed by UNFPA in collaboration with ICM for country offices, programme managers, partner agencies, and midwifery managers in Ministries of Health, to assist them in developing, ‘scaling up’ and/or strengthening midwifery programmes at the national level. It explains key midwifery concepts, outlines a step by step approach on how to strengthen midwifery Education, Regulation and Association, engage stakeholders, undertake effective policy advocacy and fund raising and references key available resources to do so.