The Caribbean Regional Midwives Association (CRMA) along with partner, Momentum Country Global Leadership (MCGL/USAID) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), hosted a 3-day regional policy dialogue workshop to discuss the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) Report 2021 from November 13 -16, 2022 at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, Guyana.

The third global State of the World’s Midwifery Report (SoWMy 2021) provides an updated evidence base on the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) care from 194 countries. For the first time, the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 includes high-income countries (HICs) as well as low and middle-income countries.

The Report, produced by UNFPA, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Novametrics, shows the progress and trends since the inaugural Report 2011 and identifies the barriers and challenges to future advancement. The Report establishes a global shortage of 1.1 million SRMNAH workers, the largest shortage (900,000) being midwives.

This workshop entitled ‘State of the World’s Midwifery: A Caribbean Response’ highlighted the findings and recommendations of this global report and its impact on the Caribbean Region to forge a Caribbean response to the Report and recommendations supporting the development of an action plan to give guidance to the regulation and practice of midwifery in the Region.

Policy Dialogue Workshop attendees included the Chief Nurses and Heads of Regulatory Councils from: Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. While the key issues discussed and brought further for inclusion in the action plan relate to education, training and curriculum, scope of practice, workforce, midwifery leadership, service delivery and migration. 

UNFPA SROC opening remarks were virtually delivered by the OIC Jewel Quallo-Rosberg. High-profile attendees were present at the Opening and Closing sessions, while the event also benefited from brief visits from the Minister of Health and the President of The Republic of Guyana.