ICM Visit to Bangladesh Midwifery Society, September 2023

In September, an ICM delegation visited Bangladesh and strengthened relationships with key stakeholders for midwives and midwifery such as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNFPA.
The team, led by Shree Mandke, Head of Programmes and Partnerships also visited Kaliakoir Upzilla Health Complex and Upzilla Sub-Centre Benupur. We were also privileged to be the guest of honour at a workshop on the role of midwives in preventing mother-to-child transmission of Hepatitis B virus, organized by the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh.
As part of ICM´s capacity building efforts, we co-designed and facilitated a leadership and governance workshop for executive members of the Bangladesh Midwifery Society (BMS) and a SMART Advocacy workshop to build the advocacy capacity of BMS and key stakeholders to understand SMART Advocacy and how to use it to drive change and advocate for key priorities for midwives and midwifery in Bangladesh. During the workshop, participants committed to engaging key decision and policy makers at sub-national and national levels to: increase the number of midwives to improve access to midwifery services; raise awareness of the midwifery scope of midwifery practice; ensure a balance between nursing and midwifery roles in clinical practice and promote the recognition of midwives and midwifery in general.
At the end of the SMART Advocacy workshop, participants had the opportunity to engage with the Director General, Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) Ms Maqsura Noor NDC in a question-and-answer session about improving the leadership, regulation, education, funding and policy environment for midwives and midwifery in Bangladesh. She pledged to support BMS and other stakeholders in advancing key issues for midwives and midwifery.
The team also met with representatives from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Save the Children, Bangladesh Adventist Nursing College, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, Cowater International, the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB) among others.