Enhancing quality of maternal care is a critical public health issue in India. Apathy and indifference to the quality of care at all levels is a major deterrent to reaching SDGs. We have a long way to go, even if several states, like Kerala, Telangana, Gujarat, and Jharkhand, have brought the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) down to 70 per 1,00,000 live births. This is where skilled birth attendance come in.
Skilled Birth Attendance (SBA) is the care given to pregnant women during labour by trained health care professionals such midwives, nurse midwives, and doctors. These skilled attendants deliver essential obstetric and newborn care that is critical for ensuring safe deliveries and healthy outcomes. Recognising the urgent need to strengthen SBA services within India’s health system and to reduce maternal mortality rates (MMR) and neonatal mortality rates (NMR), the Government of India introduced the midwifery cadre to enhance the availability, quality, and effectiveness of midwifery-led care across the country.
Midwives provide women centered, evidence-based care. They are trained in facilitating vaginal births, identifying problems early, and refer to obstetricians when complications arise. Not only does this lower the chances of maternal death from risks like postpartum bleeding, infection, and eclampsia, it also makes the overall experience of giving birth safer for women.
National programmes
Key national initiatives such as LaQshya, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), and the introduction of Nurse Practitioner in Midwifery (NPM) are a few government programmes that have strengthened SBA services. Inspired by best practices from throughout the world, some states have started to set up Midwifery-Led Care Units (MLCUs) to provide safe maternity care. These programmes have proven to lower maternal deaths during childbirth.
Conclusion
Skilled birth attendants not only make sure that childbirth is safe, but they also help newborns survive by giving them immediate care, starting breastfeeding right away, and resuscitating the infant as soon as it is needed. Their assistance is especially important in remote and underprivileged places where there aren’t many doctors.
India is expanding its midwifery support and adding SBAs to all levels of maternal healthcare. This will make it even more likely that mothers and babies would have better health outcomes. So, improving midwifery is not a medical treatment; it’s an investment in the health and dignity of women in India.