The International Confederation of Midwives affirms its belief, in line with the International Definition of the Midwife, that the midwife is responsible for the care for the newborn and the infant. In addition to giving adequate care to pregnant women, detecting and managing complications, ensuring that all women have a clean and safe delivery assisted by a trained attendant and are referred for treatment of obstetric complications if necessary, the midwife must attain and maintain adequate skills/competencies in:
C
resuscitation of the newborn
C
prevention and management of hypothermia
C
clean cord cutting and care
C
infection prevention, recognition, management and
referral
C
care of the eyes and prevention of blindness
C
immunization programmes, for mothers and their babies,
against tetanus and other preventable infections
C
education of mothers and families in the prevention
and management of diarrhoeal diseases and other conditions
C
early establishment of and continuation of
breastfeeding, with family and community education to promote, protect and suppport breastfeeding
Further, the midwife has a
responsibility to:
C
update and extend her/his own knowledge on the care of
the newborn and to share it with women and communities
C
develop advanced skills, where appropriate, to
undertake operative delivery
C
ensure that
Traditional Birth Attendants, for whom the midwife has the responsibilty
of training and supervision, are able to carry out all the basic care for all
newborn and to identify and refer sick babies for treatment.
C
encourage and support the provision of family spacing
programmes
C
support the process of
bonding / attachment between the mother and her newborn baby.
Adopted by the International Confederation of Midwives Council, May
1996,
Date for Review: 2005