Ho, Aug 16, GNA- Assistant Superintendent of Police Florence Okra, a Midwife at the Police Hospital in Accra on Wednesday underscored the importance of Midwives in society saying they were very special in the eyes of God.

"So far as there is procreation, the importance of midwives can not be overlooked", she said.

She said they were instrumental during delivery of babies and were the first contacts of human life.

ASP Okra said this at the 6th Biennial General Meeting of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA) in Ho. The Meeting was on the theme, " Global shortage of midwives- a call for action".

ASP Okra said it was the midwife who educate and guide women during pregnancy and deliver them of their babies. She therefore appealed to government to resource and motivate midwives, since most of them were working in the remotest parts of the country. ASP Okra also appealed to the authorities of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to make the Child Birth Department of the Service an autonomous body to enable it perform its functions efficiently and effectively. Mr. Sidua Hor, Project Officer of Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), a non-governmental organization, said most pregnant women do not deliver at maternity homes and hospitals due to lack of awareness and non-affordability.

He said it was in this regard that the Millennium Development Goal seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce by two-thirds maternal and infant mortality by 2015.

Mr. Hor who delivered a paper on MDG said it was also to improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and ensure environmental sustainability.

He said midwives have a vital role to play in the achievement of these goals especially in the reduction of maternal and infant mortality. Mrs. Ernestina Dzokotoe, President of the GRMA said access to safe health delivery was a right of every Ghanaian and appealed to the government to motivate health professionals especially the few midwives in order to retain them.

She appealed to midwives to aspire to reach the highest level of their career as they could now pursue the midwifery course to a doctorate degree level. 16 Aug 07