Midwifery 29 (2013) 826–830

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International News

August 2013Elizabeth DuffInternational News Editor

The 3rd Women Deliver conference held in KualaLumpur, Malaysia

Women Deliver is a global advocacy organisation that works togenerate political commitment and financial investment for ful-filling Millennium Development Goal 5—reducing maternal mor-tality and achieving universal access to reproductive health.

Following the first two ground-breaking global conferencesheld in London, UK, in 2007 and Washington DC, USA, in 2010, thethird international gathering took place May 28–30, 2013, inMalaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

The conference promotion stated categorically that this is ‘thelargest global event of the decade to focus on the health andempowerment of girls and women’ and emphasised that ‘the mostvaluable investment is one in girls and women. … With the 2015Millennium Development Goal deadline rapidly approaching, thetime is now to deliver for girls and women. Women Deliver 2013will serve as a global platform for ensuring that the health andrights of girls and women remain top priorities now, and fordecades to come’.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najibbin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, welcomed participants with the assur-ance of his belief that ‘a healthy mother means healthy families,strong communities and prosperous economies … Thank you foryour hard work to ensure the survival of mothers everywhere.Together, we will pave the path forward and ensure that nomother dies while giving life’.

The Lancet journal issued a themed special issue to mark theoccasion of the 3rd Women Deliver and the summary of the issuestated: ‘In recent years, two important changes in maternal healthhave taken place worldwide: a reduction in global maternalmortality, and an increase in the proportion of childbirths occur-ring in health facilities. Although substantial progress has beenmade, the fifth Millennium Development Goal to reduce thematernal mortality ratio by three quarters before 2015 will bemissed. … The studies published in The Lancet’s themed issue usedifferent methods to show the multidimensional nature of repro-ductive health and the influence of social determinants and healthsystems’.

(http://www.womendeliver.org/conferences/2013-conference/)

38/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.x.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2013.05.012

Strengthening quality midwifery care: making strides,addressing challenges—pre-conference symposium

This two-day symposium, held immediately before ‘WomenDeliver’ and focusing specifically on midwifery, highlighted keyissues and challenges in addressing midwifery services' availabil-ity, accessibility, acceptability and quality of care.

On Sunday May 26, the Second Global Midwifery Symposiumopened with International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Presi-dent Frances Day-Stirk welcoming all participants on behalf of theICM. She expressed ICM’s pleasure in co-hosting the Second GlobalMidwifery Symposium with partners UNFPA, Jhpiego and WHO.

‘The ‘Call to Action’ galvanised us all in recognising the impor-tance of midwives and midwifery services in the health of child-bearing women and families – in the health of societies’, said Frances.

There has been significant progress in maternal and newbornhealth yet many challenges remain; the problems are compoundedby global economic constraints.

Midwives are pivotal – the ‘lynch pin’ of maternity care – andICM is committed to working in partnership to achieve its vision ‘aworld where every childbearing woman has a midwife’.

Frances emphasised ‘When I say midwife I mean a competentmidwife, an educated, regulated midwife for [the mother] and hernewborn’. The drive to achieve the MDGs to improve maternal andnewborn health continues.

Kate Gilmore, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, then gave astimulating opening speech on behalf of Dr. Babatunde, ExecutiveDirector of UNFPA. Kate spoke of the ‘malignancies of discrimina-tion and marginalisation of women and midwives which leads tothe most intimate sorrow of losing a mother and baby’. She saidthat mothers and babies who die around the time of giving birthand being born are casualties of our choices because we know howto prevent those deaths.

Society’s collective responsibility is, she said, to ensure that3.6 million lives are saved by 2015. Maternal deaths are a socialcondition, not a medical one. All policy makers and organisationsneed to act together in functional and knowledge groupings.

Midwives bring the skilled companionship that is required duringthe time of birth; they protect the childbearing and the child.

At the end of the second day of the symposium, the partici-pants declared their commitment to champion the provision ofwidely available, accessible, acceptable and high quality midwiferyservices. The declaration was signed by 29 organisations, callingon governments, public and private sector partners to: invest;educate; deploy in the right places; be woman-centred; regulate;support; and improve the evidence. The declaration made clearthe importance of its themes with the assertion that:

‘There are still major challenges to the availability of themidwifery workforce and midwifery services in countries with

International News / Midwifery 29 (2013) 826–830 827

the greatest needs. Midwifery remains largely inaccessible, withthe most urgent need in rural communities. Many midwivescontinue to work in health systems and services that do notprovide the respectful care found acceptable to women and theirfamilies. In many countries, accreditation, regulatory and licensingprocesses remain insufficient to ensure high quality midwiferyeducation, practice, continued professional development and sup-portive supervision. Furthermore, paucity of financial resourcesand accountability mechanisms reduce the quality of care and itseffective coverage. Global partners must promote efforts that willmake midwifery services widely available, accessible, acceptableand of the highest quality. This will maximise the health ofwomen, their newborn and their families’.

The Declaration can be read in full at: (http://www.internationalmidwives.org/assets/uploads/documents/Joint%20Statements/Joint%20Declaration.pdf).

Celebrations of the International Day of the Midwife (IDM)

The International Confederation of Midwives has reported that‘Midwives associations all over the world organised events on andaround May 5 to speak out and step up for the world to realise thecrucial work midwives do’.

The following presents a summary:

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In Croatia, midwives celebrated IDM in public squares andparks, educating the public about midwifery. All midwives whowere working that day were wearing badges with key mes-sages to raise awareness and gather support.

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In Belgium, the midwives association launched the DVD ‘Mid-wives work’ with Dutch subtitles, organised a two-day con-ference with keynote speakers and workshops and baked breadin a bag, added midwifery messages and distributed them tobakeries!

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The Ethiopian Midwives Association organised a conferenceand launched the State of Ethiopia’s Midwifery report. The IDMConference included presentations on the role of midwives infamily planning, the importance of professional ethics inmidwifery and original research findings on a variety ofmaternal, newborn and child health topics.

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In the United Kingdom, midwives came together to bake cakes,have a cake competition and sell them to raise money for theICM’s Safe Motherhood and Development Fund.

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The International Delegate of the German Midwives Associa-tion participated in an MDG 5-panel discussion in Berlin.Ute Wronn, the International Delegate, talked about ICM’scommitment in implementing education and regulation stan-dards and tools in developing countries. The Federal Ministryfor Economic Cooperation and Development expressed interestin co-operating with ICM on reducing maternal mortality andmorbidity.

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In India, a celebration was held at the Amrita College of Nursingin the State of Kerala. It was the first time that IDM wascelebrated in public in Kerala, as there are very few practisingmidwives. The changing trends in childbirth practice werepresented as ‘ottan thullal’, a traditional art form of narratingstories on social issues with an essence of humour. Thecelebration created a positive image of midwifery among thestudents. Many of them expressed their desire to becomepractising midwives and to help women.

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In Afghanistan the midwives association organised their 9thnational congress and mother’s night. On this occasion, theMinister of Public Health said, ‘I want to see midwives asministers, deputy ministers, directors, parliamentarians and

any position they deserve in Afghanistan’. This event had a bigimpact at high level with politicians, parliamentarians, and theMinistry of Women’s Affairs.

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In Nepal the midwives associations organised an event withdignitaries from the Ministry of Health and Population, UNFPA,WHO, UNICEF country representatives, Family Health Division,Regulatory body, Professional Associations, Invitees and Mem-bers. A message from WHO SEARO was shared and an opendiscussion took place between the participants and the govern-ment about midwives education, deployment and a protectedtitle for senior nurses who are working as a midwives.

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In Guyana, midwives of the association – the newest ICMmember – were presented with an annual recognition award.At least one midwife from each region was honoured. The Chairperson Maria Francois said: ‘I trust that we can continue toinvest in midwives – as a key human resource strategy inmeeting our MDG target 4, 5 and 6’.

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In Sierra Leone, the IDM was hosted in Kabala with a series ofevents to honour the crucial work of midwives. The SLMApresident Hannah Shepherd gave a talk on TV. Panel discus-sions and a radio talk took place as well as sensitisation talks bymidwives to pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers.

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In Pakistan, celebration of IDM took place in the Aga KhanUniversity and at the provincial government level with theMidwifery Association of Pakistan.

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The Canadian Association of Midwives held regional eventswith film screenings and called on all Canadians to supportmidwives and midwifery, asking citizens to sign a letter to theirpoliticians.

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In Indonesia, the midwives associations organised a big marchthrough the pedestrian zone of the capital, Jakarta.

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In Brazil, the Midwives Association of Brazil – Associação deObstetrizes –, the Movement of Midwives (Obs em movimento)and USP’s Academic Center organised a health movement atthe park, with workshops. In the capital of Brasilia midwivescame together for a conference, where they also showed theDVD ‘Midwives work’ with Portuguese subtitles.

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In the Philippines, midwives associations organised a bigcongress with many attendants from all over the Philippines.

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In Bulgaria, midwives printed T-shirts with key messages andorganised a marathon in a central park in the capital Sofia.

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In Taiwan, a BEST Midwives clinic was formed to providewomen with the option of home birth. Families with theirbabies came and spoke about their thankfulness for theservices of midwives.

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In Malta, the midwifery student organisation ‘OrganizzazzjoniStudenti Qwiebel-OSQ’ designed a special poster and used it topromote midwifery and the IDM on the Internet across differ-ent channels.

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In China, the Midwifery Association of Guangdong Province,with the support of the Association's Chairman, Mr. Xin Tu, helda successful inaugural conference attended by over 300 mid-wives and obstetricians. Also in attendance as the keynotespeaker was ICM Board Member Ms. Mary Kirk, Asia PacificRegion. The conference was attended by dignitaries from theMinistry of Health and NGOs. China’s significant achievementsin reducing maternal mortality were celebrated, as were theplan and commitment made to improving maternal health andmorbidity into the future. Midwives and a group of dignitariesvisited Zhongshan Maternal and Infant Health Hospital where amodel of midwifery led care by a team of twenty nine mid-wives is an example of excellence in China.

The full version of the IDM reports is available on the ICMwebsite at (http://www.internationalmidwives.org/news/?nid=61).

International News / Midwifery 29 (2013) 826–830828

State of the World’s Mothers: surviving the first day

‘State of the World’s Mothers’ is the title of Save the Children’s14th regular annual report on motherhood and the risks for boththe woman and the child.

It is estimated that, every year, nearly three million babies diewithin the first month of life, most from preventable causes. Morethan a third of these babies die on their first day of life—makingthe birth day the riskiest day for newborns and mothers almosteverywhere.

This report examines the need to strengthen health systems,train and equip more health workers and make proven, underusedsolutions available to every mother and newborn who needs them.Such efforts could help prevent as many as three out of fournewborn deaths.

A new feature, the Birth Day Risk Index compares first-daydeath rates for babies in 186 countries to identify the safest andmost dangerous places to be born. The annual Mothers' Index usesthe latest data on women’s health, children’s health, educationalattainment, economic well-being and female political participa-tion to rank 176 countries and show where mothers and childrenfare best and where they face the greatest hardships.

Save the Children explains that it is supporting the drive toreduce maternal and newborn deaths in four ways:

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increasing awareness of the challenges and solutions to mater-nal, newborn and child survival. As part of our campaign, thisreport calls attention to areas where greater investments areneeded and shows that effective strategies are working, even insome of the poorest places on earth;

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encouraging action by mobilising citizens around the world tosupport programmes to reduce maternal, newborn and childmortality, and to advocate for increased leadership, commit-ment and funding for programmes we know work;

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working in partnership with national health ministries andlocal organisations, we are supporting efforts to deliver high-quality health services throughout the developing world. Byimproving pregnancy and delivery care, vaccinating children,treating diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria, as well as improv-ing nutrition, we have saved millions of lives. The tragedy isthat so many more could be saved, if only more resources wereavailable to ensure that these lifesaving programmes reach allwho need them;

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collaborating with partners on research to determine whattools and approaches work best to save the lives of babies inthe first month of life. Our groundbreaking Saving NewbornLives programme, launched in 2000 with a grant from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation, has helped deliver better carepractices and improved health interventions to save newbornlives in 18 countries. The challenge now is to bring theselifesaving services and practices to mothers and newbornseverywhere.

The ‘vital statistics’ in the report confirm the well-known factthat ‘Nearly all newborn and maternal deaths (98% and 99%,respectively) occur in developing countries where pregnantwomen and newborn babies lack access to basic health-careservices—before, during and after delivery’.

However, it goes on to say that, while only 1% of the world’snewborn deaths occur in industrialised countries, the newbornperiod is still the riskiest time, no matter where a baby is born.

The United States has the highest first-day death rate in theindustrialised world. An estimated 11,300 newborn babies dieeach year in the United States on the day they are born. This is 50%more first-day deaths than all other industrialised countriescombined.

When first-day deaths in the United States are compared tothose in the 27 countries making up the European Union, thefindings show that European Union countries, taken together, have1 million more births each year (4.3 million vs. 5.3 million,respectively), but only about half as many first-day deaths as theUnited States (11,300 in the U.S. vs. 5800 in EU member countries).

In Australia, Austria, Canada, Switzerland and the United States,60% or more of babies who die in their first month die on their firstday. Current data do not allow for analysis of first-day death ratesamong disadvantaged groups in wealthy countries, but newbornand infant mortality are often higher among the poor and racial/ethnic minorities. Poor and minority groups also suffer higherburdens of prematurity and low birth weight, which likely lead tofirst-day deaths in the US and elsewhere.

The recommendations of the report include:

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Address the underlying causes of newborn mortality, especiallygender inequality. When mothers are strong and stable –

physically, financially and socially – their children are morelikely to survive and thrive. Educated girls tend to marry laterand begin childbearing later in life. Men must also be engagedas stakeholders in maternal and child health so that theysupport family choices that will lead to healthier mothers andbabies.

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Invest in health workers – especially those working on the frontlines – to reach the most vulnerable mothers and babies. Theworld faces a shortage of five million health workers of alltypes and there is an acute shortage of frontline health work-ers, including 350,000 with midwifery skills. New frontlinehealth workers need to be recruited and trained, and those whoare already practicing need opportunities to update andimprove their skills. Birth attendants also need training to helpnewborn babies survive the ‘golden minute’—that firstmoment after birth when, if a baby is not breathing sponta-neously, a simple intervention can save her life.

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Invest in low-cost, low-tech solutions which health workerscan use to save lives during pregnancy, at birth and immedi-ately after birth. Most newborn deaths could be prevented byensuring access to life-saving products and approaches, includ-ing: treatment of infections in pregnant women; access to low-tech equipment that can help babies breathe; clean cord careusing chlorhexidine; prompt treatment of newborn infections;and basic education for mothers about the importance ofproper hygiene, warmth and breast feeding for newborns.

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Strengthen health systems and address demand-related bar-riers to access and use of health services. Investing in skilledbirth attendants and other frontline health workers is a criticalpiece of a broader movement to ensure Universal HealthCoverage so that everyone – starting with the most vulnerable– receives essential, high-quality care without financial hard-ship. The world needs to understand and address the social,cultural and financial barriers that prevent families fromreceiving quality health care.

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Increase commitments and funding to save the lives of mothersand newborns. In many cases, countries need to increase theirpublic investment in health – especially investments in mater-nal, newborn and child health – and take steps to ensure thatdirect payments for health care are not a barrier to survival.Developing countries should develop their own funded roadmaps to identify and implement solutions that work bestwithin their existing health systems to end preventable mater-nal and newborn deaths. A range of stakeholders, includingdonor countries, developing countries, international agencies,non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sectorall have separate roles to play in helping improve and expandeffective health-care coverage so even the poorest mothers and

International News / Midwifery 29 (2013) 826–830 829

their newborns have access to quality care. NGOs, in particular,can help monitor progress and make sure stakeholders are heldaccountable.

The State of the Mothers 2013 report is at (http://www.savethechildrenweb.org/SOWM-2013/#/10/zoomed).

Accountability for maternal, newborn & child survival: the2013 update

In September 2010, at a United Nations General Assemblysummit to assess progress on the MDGs, Secretary-General BanKi-moon launched the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’sHealth, an unprecedented plan to save the lives of 16 millionwomen and children by 2015.

The Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’sand Children’s Health was then established to develop a frameworkto monitor and track commitments made to the Global Strategy. TheCommission’s report, Keeping Promises, Measuring Results, identi-fied a set of core indicators which, taken together, enable stake-holders to track progress in reducing maternal and child mortalityand increasing coverage of interventions across the continuum ofcare. The report also urged that all data be disaggregated by keyequity dimensions.

An independent Expert Review Group (iERG) was appointed by theSecretary-General in September 2011 to report annually on progress in75 priority countries regarding implementation of the Commission’srecommendations regarding reporting, oversight, and accountability.The first iERG report was published in September 2012.

Countdown to 2015 is committed to supporting the account-ability agenda by providing evidence on progress for each of the 75countries where more than 95% of all maternal and child deathsoccur. Countdown has pledged to prepare an annual report withone-page profiles – adapted from the two-page country profilesproduced by Countdown on a roughly two-year cycle – showcas-ing progress on the 11 core indicators selected by the Commissionon Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’sHealth. These 11 indicators encompass key elements of thereproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) con-tinuum of care:

Core indicators identified by the Commission on Informationand Accountability are:

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Maternal mortality ratio � Under-five mortality rate, with the proportion of newborn deaths � Children under five years of age who are stunted � Demand for family planning satisfied (met need for contraception) � Antenatal care coverage (at least four visits during pregnancy) � Antiretroviral prophylaxis among HIV-positive pregnant women

to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and antiretroviraltherapy for HIV-positive pregnant women who are treatment-eligible

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Skilled attendant at birth � Postnatal care for mothers and babies within two days of birth � Exclusive breast feeding for first six months of life � Three doses of combined diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (dTp3)

immunisation coverage

� Antibiotic treatment for pneumonia

The key findings include:

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Across most of the Countdown countries, levels of maternaland child mortality have both been dropping over the past twodecades. But in some countries, particularly in sub-SaharanAfrica where fertility levels typically remain high, progress has

been slower. These countries must be prioritised for collectiveglobal, regional, and national action.

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Child deaths are increasingly concentrated in the first month oflife. Newborn deaths now account for 40% or more of all childdeaths in 35 of the Countdown countries. Improving newbornsurvival, including reducing stillbirths, must be a major focus ofpolicies and programmes.

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Undernutrition, in a synergistic relationship with infectiousdiseases, contributes to almost half of all child deaths. Levels ofstunting, a form of growth failure resulting from chronicundernutrition, remain unacceptably high in virtually all 75countries. Nutrition must continue to be emphasised as anessential ingredient of maternal, newborn, and child survivalprogrammes.

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Wide variations in coverage for interventions addressed by theCommission indicators, both across and within Countdowncountries, show the importance of equity as a core componentof all health strategies. Global and national efforts must focuson reaching the poorest and other vulnerable sub-groups of thepopulation.

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High levels of fertility and unmet need for family planning inmany Countdown countries highlight the need to broadenaccess to contraception. The global community has woken upto this need, and the growing political momentum must betranslated into substantially increased resources. Significantchallenges remain before us. High population growth remainsa looming obstacle to progress in countries where healthsystems are least equipped to respond to escalations indemand, and pervasive inequities must be addressed if weare to fulfil the promise of MDGs 4 and 5 for millions of womenand children.

The full report can be downloaded at (http://countdown2015mnch.org/documents/2013Report/Countdown_2013-Update_withprofiles).pdf.

World Health Statistics 2013

The World Health Organization has published its regularsummary of data. The World Health Statistics series is WHO’sannual compilation of health-related data for its 194 MemberStates, and includes a summary of the progress made towardsachieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) and associated targets.

This year, it also includes highlight summaries on the topics ofreducing the health gaps between the world’s most-advantagedand least-advantaged countries.

For midwives, there is a useful comment on maternal mortalityfigures:

‘A substantial reduction in maternal deaths has previously beennoted – from 543,000 deaths in 1990 to an estimated 287,000 by2010, with a global rate of decline in the maternal mortality ratioof 3.1% per annum over the same period. Nevertheless, this rate ofdecline would now need to double in order to achieve the MDGtarget of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by three quartersbetween 1990 and 2015.’

‘All six WHO regions have seen a decline in the maternalmortality ratio, but at different rates. The WHO African Regionremains the region with the highest maternal mortality ratio.’

‘Approximately one quarter of countries with the highestmaternal mortality ratio in 1990 (100 or more maternal deathsper 100,000 live births) have made insufficient progress or none.In order to reduce maternal deaths, women need access to good-quality reproductive health services.’

International News / Midwifery 29 (2013) 826–830830

‘In 2010, 63% of women aged 15–49 years who were married orin a consensual union were using some form of contraception.’

‘Although the proportion of women receiving antenatal care atleast once during pregnancy was about 81% over the period 2005–2012, the figure dropped to around 55% for the recommendedminimum of four visits or more.’

‘The proportion of births attended by skilled personnel – crucialfor reducing perinatal, neonatal and maternal deaths – was above90% in three of the six WHO regions for the period 2005–2012’.

However, in the WHO African Region coverage remains atunder 50%.

‘About 16 million adolescent girls between 15 years and 19years of age give birth each year. Babies born to adolescentmothers account for approximately 11% of all births worldwide—with 95% of such births occurring in developing countries. In low-and middle-income countries, complications from pregnancy andchildbirth are a leading cause of death among adolescent girls inthis age group, and in 2008 there were an estimated three millionunsafe abortions carried out on such girls.’

‘The adverse effects of adolescent childbearing also extend tothe health of the infants. Perinatal deaths are 50% higher amongbabies born to mothers under 20 years of age than among thoseborn to mothers aged 20–29 years. The neonates of adolescentmothers are also more likely to have a low birth weight, whichmay result in a higher rate of long-term health risks.’

The full document can be downloaded at (http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/EN_WHS2013_Full.pdf).

WHO multicountry survey on maternal and newborn health2010–2012

A major survey has concluded that there is a need to go beyond‘essential interventions’ to reduce maternal mortality.

This study suggests that to achieve a substantial reduction inmaternal mortality, a comprehensive approach to emergency care,and overall improvements in the quality of maternal health carewill be needed.

WHO conducted the largest study to date assessing severecomplications and ‘near misses’ in pregnancy. The WHO Multi-country Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health found that‘essential interventions’ – simple treatments which are indispen-sable for effective maternal care, such as providing uterotonics forpreventing postpartum haemorrhage, or magnesium sulphate foreclampsia – do not necessarily reduce maternal mortality inhealth-care facilities which provide them.

The study examined data from more than 30,000 womenattending 357 health-care facilities in 29 countries and deter-mined how many pregnant women had a severe maternal out-come (defined as either maternal death or a near miss), as well as

the coverage of essential interventions in the health-care facilitiesstudied.

The tools offered alongside the report of the survey include theMaternal Severity Index (MSI) calculator. This simple calculator isdesigned to facilitate the use of the Maternal Severity Index (MSI),with users required to ‘just tick the conditions present in clinicalcases and obtain the MSI’. This is a useful tool for health servicesbenchmarking and research.

More details are available at (http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/EN_WHS2013_Full.pdf).

Birthrights and ‘Dignity in Childbirth’

Birthrights is a relatively new organisation based in London,UK; it is the UK’s only organisation dedicated to improvingwomen’s experience of pregnancy and childbirth by promotingrespect for human rights.

The founders, mainly lawyers who work in the internationalhuman rights field, believe that all women are entitled to respect-ful maternity care that protects their fundamental rights to dignity,autonomy, privacy and equality.

Birthrights is hosting the ‘Dignity in Childbirth’ Forum inLondon on 16 October 2013. The Forum will be held in collabora-tion with the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) to mark Global DignityDay when people worldwide explore challenges to human dignityand encourage best practice. WRA and partners in a campaigncalled ‘Respectful Maternity Care (RMC)’ have developed a suite ofadvocacy tools highlighting RMC as a basic human right.These tools include: ‘The Respectful Maternity Care Charter: TheUniversal Rights of Childbearing Women’, featuring internationaldeclarations and conventions which affirm women’s rights torespectful maternity care.

The Forum begins a national debate about dignity in childbirthin the UK with leading experts and practitioners from diversefields, including human rights lawyers, health professionals, aca-demics, campaigners and policy makers.

The aim is to discuss the challenges that women face to theirdignity, and explore and celebrate existing initiatives to promotedignity and respectful care.

A call for submissions says: ‘Are you working to promotedignity in childbirth? Tell us about your initiative, research projector idea’. All submissions will be showcased at the Forum and anaward made for the one with the greatest potential impact.Individual and group submissions are welcome, both writtenpapers and visual media accepted. Deadline: 1 September 2013.

More details about the organisation and the Forum are at(http://www.birthrights.org.uk/).

More about Respectful Maternity Care at (http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/index.cfm/the-issues/respectful-maternity-care/).