Kathmandu University (KU) has launched a bachelor's level curriculum on midwifery education with a view to developing it as an independent profession. The KU is set to run the Bachelor in Midwifery Sciences (BMS) course from this year.
Two institutes out of three that were permitted to run the BMS have taken initiative to run the course. The KU informed that the university had already started the classes in which six students have been admitted. The National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) Bir Hospital Nursing Campus announced admissions for Midwifery course. Total enrollment quota is 10.
Similarly, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan has already got permission to operate the BMS course. The university has launched the course with the aim of generating well-trained and supporting midwives to work in the communities.
To get enroll in the BMS program, prospective candidates must complete PCL nursing and have atleast one years of working experience. Chathkala Sharma, chairperson and professor of Nepal Nursing Council said that BMS would make midwifery an independent profession and help provide compassionate, respectful and culturally sensitive care that women need during pregnancy and childbirth.
Sharma said that the council had permitted three institutions to run this program.
Chairperson and Professor of Nepal Midwifery Society, Kiran Bajracharya said that by launching the midwifery course, the country took a step towards developing midwifery as a separate profession.
She said that a midwife is a health professional who cares and assists women during normal pregnancy and delivery. "They have knowledge about the type of pregnancy cases that need to be referred to the doctors," she added.
Stating that midwives would provide care to childbearing women by respecting their rights and socio-cultural aspects she said that this would help to reduce child and maternal mortality rate in this country.
(This article was originally published in The Rising Nepal, this is the edited version)
