I just watched an excellent film on PBS about how the nation of Mozambique is combating its high maternal mortality rate by training nurses and midwives to perform cesarean sections. These midwife-surgeons will practice in rural areas where people have little or no access to modern health care and women rely on family members and traditional birth attendants to see them through childbirth. In these places any complication can result in the death of the child and often the mother. This innovative program of providing surgical training for midwives could help Mozambique to achieve MDG #5, “Reduce the maternal mortality rate by 75% by 2015.”
I was inspired by the courage and commitment of the midwives featured in the film and learned a lot about the realities of life for women in Sub-Saharan Africa. You can read more about this film by following the link below.
