Port Vila, Vanuatu, UNFPA Pacific (May 05) - Nine Fijian midwives have begun working at the maternity ward of the Vila Central Hospital (VCH) in Vanuatu, the national referral hospital in Port Vila, as the world celebrates International Day of the Midwife today, May 5.
The retired midwives, two of whom had just completed their final week at their respective divisional hospitals in Fiji, begin manning the maternity ward on their own this week as their ni-Vanuatu counterparts, who have been working since Cyclone Pam, take a well-deserved week-long break.
The destruction wrought by Cyclone Pam on March 13 meant the three midwives who were on duty on the night of the cyclone worked 36 hours straight, with debris and damage restricting movements to and from the hospital. Midwives then worked 12-hour shifts before resuming ordinary hours at the end of March. One of the first formal requests from the Government of Vanuatu through its Ministry of Health was for midwives.
The Fiji midwives are part of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA's contribution to the Cyclone Pam response, in collaboration with the Fiji and Vanuatu ministries for health.
"It will be very helpful and it is relevant assistance," Apisai Tokon, coordinator of the Reproductive Health and Family Planning Unit of the Vanuatu Department of Public Health said. "Human resources is very important given the staff have gone through this cyclone, they still haven't mentally recovered so this assistance by UNFPA will be very helpful to our people and to the staff."
VCH's maternity ward nurse-in-charge Janet Leitangi, who worked for 36 hours through the night of March 13 as Cyclone Pam pummeled the island nation with its Category 5 gusts said seeing the Fijian midwives march into the ward brought her so much relief.
"It's just like we are from the same place," Ms Leitangi said. "Some of us will have some time off because we have been working non-stop since the hurricane. I want to extend word of thanks to Fiji government for releasing Fijian midwives to come to Vanuatu to help us out due to this stressful time."
The Vila Central Hospital recorded 3,133 births in 2014, averaging eight to 15 births daily. The months of April to July are usually the "birthing bulge" of the ward with a monthly average of 300.
UNFPA Pacific Sub-Regional Office Representative and Director, Dr Laurent Zessler said UNFPA was privileged to facilitate this South-South collaboration.
"Funding the midwives is part of the mandate the UNFPA has been given by the United Nations General Assembly or UN member states, which includes both Fiji and Vanuatu," Dr Zessler said.
"We are responding to a request from the Government of Vanuatu and we are indeed grateful to the Government of Fiji through the Ministry for Health for their collaboration - this makes today's occasion of International Day of the Midwife a special one for all stakeholders."
