Anne-Marie_Rennie

Anne-Marie Rennie tells us about her trip to Australia

2005 Iolanthe Midwifery Trust Award winner Anne-Marie Rennie tells us why her award was so important to her.

I was absolutely delighted to have been successful in my application for the Iolanthe education bursary. It enabled me to attend the International Confederation of Midwives 27th Triennial Congress, Midwifery: Diverse Pathways to Healthy Nations, at which I had been invited to present my MSc. thesis “Midwives views of models of midwifery using focus groups”. I was fortunate to gain a distinction for this work and felt very enthusiastic about discussing it at such a major international event.

Midwives throughout the world attended this conference to share their experiences, and it was fantastic hearing about their practice. I met many midwifery friends at the conference and it was great listening to their stories. I really enjoyed the sessions that I attended and learnt so much, particularly about the high maternal mortality rates in the developing world. I was fortunate to meet a midwife friend who is now working in Afghanistan. She spoke with a colleague about maternal mortality in Afghanistan and why women die using some case studies to illustrate typical real life scenarios, where women did not survive childbirth. In Afghanistan, one woman dies every 30 minutes from pregnancy-related causes, with an estimation that the majority of deaths being thought to be avoidable. In comparison, there is this disturbing disparity with developed countries, where maternal deaths are fortunately relatively rare. 99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. One of the reasons for this in Afghanistan (and there are many), is that skilled attendants are present at only 9% of births. Training midwives in developing countries must be a priority.

Picture shows Anne-Marie (R) with colleagues Susan Gibb from Scotland (L) and Address Malata from Malawi (centre)

Picture shows Anne-Marie (L) and Susan Gibb

Malawi midwives spoke of receiving their training in Malawi and of then being offered jobs in UK hospitals. This might go some way to address the shortage of midwives in our own country, but what about the cost to Malawi and most importantly the women and their families?

Susan Gibb (also an Iolanthe winner) and I recently organised an Australian evening on St Andrews night to disseminate this fabulous educational experience to student midwives studying at The Robert Gordon University, and our midwifery colleagues in education and practice. During the event, we raised awareness of the plight of our colleagues in developing countries. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture the weather that we had in Australia, but we celebrated midwifery and raised awareness of these important issues to local midwives who were unable to attend the ICM in Brisbane.

I was one of the lucky ones that was able to attend, and I now know why they call Brisbane the sunshine coast! The future of the midwifery profession is in our hands! Thanks again to Iolanthe.


Picture shows Anne-Marie (L) and Susan Gibb
	Malawi midwives spoke of receiving their training in Malawi and of then being offered jobs in UK hospitals. This might go some way to address the shortage of midwives in our own country, but what about the cost to Malawi and most importantly the women and their families? Susan Gibb (also an Iolanthe winner) and I recently organised an Australian evening on St Andrews night to disseminate this fabulous educational experience to student midwives studying at The Robert Gordon University, and our midwifery colleagues in education and practice. During the event, we raised awareness of the plight of our colleagues in developing countries. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture the weather that we had in Australia, but we celebrated midwifery and raised awareness of these important issues to local midwives who were unable to attend the ICM in Brisbane.