The International Day of the Midwife is an occasion for every individual midwife to think about the many others in the profession, to make new contacts within and outside midwifery, and to widen the knowledge of midwives’ contribution to society.

Every year, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) comes up with a theme to help celebrate this profession and recall its importance. The theme of the International Day of the Midwife for 2016, being celebrated today, is ‘Women and Newborns: The Heart of Midwifery’.

One of the targets of this theme is to improve the education of midwives and to recruit new ones.

Last year marked the centenary since the local Midwifery Practice Programme was officially inaugurated. It is therefore fitting that the Malta Midwives Association highlights the achievements realised through midwifery education.

Giuseppe Antonio Creni strove to introduce midwifery education in Malta in the late 18th century and, in 1802, Francesco Buttigieg was the first obstetrics teacher to give midwifery lectures in Maltese.

Governments must continue to increase investment in midwifery education

However, midwifery education was initially somewhat inconsistent. In 1869 a professor by the name of S.L. Pisani reorganised the midwifery programme. He designed a 16-month course covering both the theoretical and the practical aspects of midwifery. He also wrote the first midwifery textbook written in Maltese, which was published in 1883.

Further midwifery books were published by another professor, G. B. Schembri, who also formulated the regulations for midwifery practice which were subsequently legislated by a government notice in 1899.

Midwifery was consequently listed as a profession in the Health Act of 1901, and midwives’ activities and responsibilities were regulated by the First Sanitary Ordinance enacted in the same year.

Midwives are today providing their services at health centres, government hospitals, private clinics or hospitals, in the community and are also conducting antenatal preparation classes for parents.

In 1915, six midwives commenced a three-year midwifery education programme leading to a diploma. It is amazing to see how midwifery education in Malta has evolved since then, given that the programme was not held on a consistent basis.

In fact, for a time the programme was discontinued, until 1970 when the school of midwifery was reopened by Elizabeth Thompson. In subsequent years, midwifery education got a much-needed boost through the unstinting efforts of Mary Vella Bondin.

On the personal initiative of professor John Rizzo Naudi, midwifery education once again fell under the auspices of the University of Malta. In 1988, the Midwifery School was amalgamated with the Nursing School, and continued to develop courses on an academic level within the Institute of Health Care, University of Malta.

In 2008, Rita Borg Xuereb was the first Maltese midwife to successfully defend her PhD studies. The subsequent year, on June 4, 2009 (with the help of her fellow colleagues), Dr Borg Xuereb took midwifery education to the next level.

Midwifery studies became a division separate and distinct from nursing. And in 2010, midwifery education was constituted as a fully-fledged department within the Faculty of Health Science.

Maltese midwives have come a long way. Many of them are investing in their studies and continuing their professional education to Masters and even PhD level.

Midwives are today providing their services at health centres, government hospitals, private clinics or hospitals, in the community and are also conducting antenatal preparation classes for parents. Midwifery is also finding its place in managerial and specialised posts.

The ultimate goal of the International Community of Midwives is to lower the maternal mortality and morbidity rate, as well as the neonatal and infant mortality rate. Unfortunately, mortality and morbidity remain high in certain societies.

That is why governments must continue to increase investment in midwifery education. This is the only way to ensure that there are enough qualified midwives to care for pregnant women and newborns.

Currently, only 22 per cent of countries have enough midwives to provide the care needed. According to the State of the World’s Report, (2014), 289,000 women still die from preventable pregnancy and childbirth causes.

Fortunately in Malta the situation is quite sound. However, we must not bury our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening overseas.

It is with this in mind that the Malta Midwives Association together with the International Confederation of Midwives applaud midwives around the world for their vocational work.