ICM Newsletter August 2017
Message from the CE
Now that the dust has settled from our 31st Triennial Congress and associated Council meeting held in Toronto, Canada, in June, the ICM Head Office team are focusing on the many follow up actions and preparing for several activities in the coming months. Changes are also afoot at Head Office and we have advertised two Midwife Advisor positions to join our team - see the position descriptions HERE. Applications close on 30th August 2017.
As part of Franka Cadée's orientation to the role of President, we were delighted to have visits to Head Office this month from Petra ten Hoope-Bender, UNFPA's Technical Adviser Sexual and Reproductive Health and Fran McConville, WHO's Technical Officer, Midwifery. Franka and I spent a busy day with each of them focusing on ICM's workplans with UNFPA and WHO respectively and discussing in depth many topics of mutual interest.
The first week of September will see ICM undertake the first pilot in Trinidad and Tobago of our Midwifery Education Accreditation Programme (MEAP), currently under development. When completed the ICM MEAP will provide a mechanism for assessment of pre-service midwifery education programmes against ICM's Global Standards for Midwifery Education. It will be a voluntary process and will not replace any existing accreditation requirements in countries. The second pilot will take place in Comoros and will provide useful feedback on the documents and processes when used in French.
ICM will attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York during the third week of September. The team will participate in a diverse programme of events that will showcase progress achieved in the maternal, newborn and child health space over the past 12 months. We will also meet with many of our partners to discuss new opportunities for collaboration.
October brings with it the first meeting of our new Board. We are excited to welcome Board members to The Hague and hope to show them some of this beautiful city in-amongst their busy work schedule. One key activity for the Board will be finalising the strategic plan for the 2017 - 2020 triennium.
As Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Secretary-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), takes up his new role, ICM is delighted to see his stated commitment to midwifery and nursing begin to take effect. Dr. Tedros has announced the creation of a senior nursing role at WHO and ICM looks forward to supporting the appointee and working with them and Dr Tedros to increase the focus on midwifery and nursing in WHO.
ICM has long-standing relationships with the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and the International Paediatric Association (IPA). To strengthen our relationships and work more closely and proactively on issues of mutual interest, the Chief Executives have planned regular meetings by Skype and I am looking forward to seeing what our combined efforts can achieve.
We are starting to see signs of Autumn in The Hague, while many of you will be welcoming Spring. This role (and my recent relocation from New Zealand to the Netherlands) have given me a new appreciation of the wonderful diversity of ICM as we work with each other across time zones and seasons, in multiple languages and cultural contexts - while all the time contributing to our shared endeavour of strengthening and supporting women and girls, mothers, their newborns and families and of course, midwives.
Kia Kaha
Sally Pairman
Chief Executive
"Kekeli" - Female Community Health Promoters
At the time I said I was ‘moving’ to Africa, but in retrospect it was more of an extended stay. That was ten years ago now, when in July of 2007 I relocated to the Volta Region of Ghana for four months to volunteer as a nurse at a clinic called Seva. This is where I first encountered a group of female community health promoters called Kekeli, which means brightness in the local language of Ewe. After witnessing first hand the power these women had to create change in their communities, I knew I wanted to be support such an endeavor. My time in Ghana was pivotal in my decision to return to school and pursue a career in midwifery. This article is submitted by Olivia Groening-Roche, a certified Nurse-Midwife, Programme Director and Co-Founder of Rural Health Collaborative. READ MORE
News Brief
Member Associations give feedback on the Global Midwives Association Map
ICM in collaboration with Direct Relief launched and presented the Global Midwives Association map during the ICM Council meeting in Toronto, Canada. The map was presented to more than 150 ICM delegates and published on the ICM website and through social media. Since its launch in June, ICM conducted a survey to seek feedback from Member Associations about how to improve the information provided in the map.
ICM would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who responded to the survey. Your participation and feedback has been very helpful and we are already working towards implementing your suggestions and updating the map. Click HERE to read more
Building capacity for midwifery educators through CBE
As part of the ICM and Sanofi Espoir Foundation project - Strengthening Midwifery Education in French Speaking Africa, a Competency Based Education (CBE) workshop was conducted in Ivory Coast this month. Similar workshops will be held in Comoros and Madagascar in September.
The objective of these workshops is to create a pool of CBE teachers in each country who are able to demonstrate the appropriate use of CBE teaching, learning and evaluation strategies as well as the ICM global standards for midwifery education.
Participants in the CBE workshop include midwifery educators and preceptors from midwifery education institutions and clinical sites in the selected countries. The outcomes expected of graduates of midwifery pre-service or in-service continuing education programmes are based on the ICM Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (i.e., WHAT to teach). In contrast, the focus of the CBE workshops is on the HOW to teach others to teach, support learning, and assess and evaluate demonstration of midwifery competencies in learners enrolled in midwifery programs.
Ivory Coast Regional Health Director in a group photo with CBE learners and teachers.
Rachel Ibinga, CBE teacher facilitating one of the sessions
Lilian Ingabire, ICM Midwife Advisor demonstrating a skill with the neoNathalie simulation model to CBE learners.
ICM includes experts in the development of its Global Midwifery Education Accreditation Programme (ICM MEAP)
As part of developing ICM's MEAP, Swiss TPH (consultants leading the project), ICM staff and international accreditation experts took part in a workshop at Head Office in July. The participants reviewed and amended the draft accreditation criteria and the accreditation process tools. They were also oriented to the online platform that will be used to manage documents when the ICM MEAP goes 'live'. Pilots are taking place in Trinidad and Tobago in September and in Comoros in October. The pilots will test the process, documents, tools and feedback from the participants will inform the final design and content of the ICM MEAP.
From 10,000 to 50,000 Happy Birthdays
In July ICM announced call Call for Proposals to National Midwifery Associations and partners interested in taking part in phase II of the 10.000 Happy Birthday Project. We would like to remind you that the deadline for submission is 1st September. For more information click HERE
What's new from ICM
The recent ICM Council meeting approved revisions to several existing position statements, the definition of a Midwife and the Bill of Rights for Women and Midwives. The Council also approved new documents - the Definition of Midwifery and position statements;- Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people, Midwives and Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance, Migrant and Refugee Women and their Families, Role of Community Health Worker in Maternity Care Provision and Use of Intermitted Auscultation for Assessment of Foetal Wellbeing during Labor. These documents can be accessed on our website, click on the link below to read more.
ENGLISH
4. Bill of Rights for Women and Midwives
SPANISH
2. Definición Internacional de Matrona de la ICM
4. Carta de Derechos de las Mujeres y las Matronas
FRENCH
2. Définition Internationale de la Sage-femme
3. Définition de la pratique sage-femme
4. Charte de Droits Fondamentaux des Femmes et des Sages-femmes
More midwifery news, documents, publications, statistics can be found HERE
FIRST TOUCH World Record Infant Massage Event Resources
The educational resources provided by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. during the world record-breaking Infant Massage Lesson at the ICM Triennial Congress in Toronto, can now be accessed in our website. Click on the below links:-
- The FIRST TOUCH World Record infant massage event resources
- Les ressources d'événements du PREMIER TOUCHER et massage des bébés
- Acceso a los recursos del evento: Primer Record Mundial de masaje infantil
Shop ICM
ICM welcomes you to purchase several products in our store. For more information click HERE
Photo snippets
"Candid moment" (L-R)- ICM Chief Executive Sally Pairman; WHO Technical Officer, Midwifery, Frances Emma McConville and ICM President Franka Cadée.
ICM Midwife Advisor, Patricia Titulaer, demonstrating the clinical practice with the MamaBirthie Simulation Model to ICM staff (not in picture). To learn more about the MamaBirthie simulation model click HERE
"Breastfeeding is time-saving since it is always ready in the breast. It is easy for the baby to digest and since it will not cause diarrhoea, it saves money by avoiding to buy medicine." Midwife Cire Diarra, during the World Breastfeeding Week in Mauritania.
For World Breastfeeding Week, the midwives from Burkina Faso celebrated with a day of raising awareness of the importance of breastfeeding. The gathering took place at a health centre in Ouagadougou.
Competency Based Education (CBE) learner demonstrating to her colleagues on how to use the NeoNathalie simulation model.
Partnership: Frances Hughes, ICN Chief Executive; Johan Vos, FIGO Chief Executive and Sally Pairman, ICM Chief Executive
Upcoming events
27 Aug - 1 Sept: World Water Week
12-25 Sept: 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 72)
For more information and current news on ICM
Website: www.internationalmidwives.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalConfederstionofMidwives/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/world_midwives
Flickr: ICM Photos
