Midwives Lead the World

New Zealand midwives provide the best care in the world for mothers and newborn babies, described international delegates attending the recent 29th Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) in South Africa. They acknowledged that New Zealand is leading the world in setting the standards for midwifery practice and professionalism, citing midwifery education, regulation and training, and strong collaboration with other health professionals. New Zealand is the only country that already conforms 1 per cent to new standards and competency goals adopted by the ICM. The State of the World’s Midwifery report, published by 29 leading world health agencies was launched at the conference.