The UP College of Nursing (UPCN), in partnership with the Health Human Resources Development Bureau of the Department of Health, held the first Leadership Development Course (LDC) for midwives on July 18 to August 12.
Designed to enhance the competencies of midwives as key players in the achievement of Universal Health Care, the course is geared for midwives in the public health setting such as rural health units and urban health centers, or for midwife supervisors. A total of 60 Continuing Professional Development units (CPD) were given by the PRC Board of Midwifery to the midwives who completed the course.
Forty-eight (48) scholars from various regions in the country who were funded by the Department of Health graduated from the course. Participants were from the Cordillera Administrative Region and National Capital Region; and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A, 4-B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 13.
UPCN Assistant Prof. Efrelyn Iellamo, with the team from the UPCN Maternal and Child Nursing Specialty group, headed the development and implementation of the course. The 86-hour course ran for 20 days in a span of four weeks. The program was delivered through blended learning mode which included face-to-face sessions, online sessions through a learning management system, and field visits to health departments from urban (City Health Office of Marikina) to rural health setting (Health Office of Tanza).
The online component was held in the first and second week of the course, while face-to-face component was held during the third and fourth week. There were six modules where learners were required to engage in health service delivery, human resources for health, health governance, health regulation, health information systems, and health financing.
In her message, Chancellor Carmencita Padilla stated that as of October 31, 2021, there were approximately 41, 000 midwives across the Philippines comprising about 22% of the total number of healthcare professionals in the country.
“It is a very significant number, and it makes a lot of sense to harness your group especially because you operate very close to the grassroots,” asserted Chancellor Carmencita Padilla. She noted that although midwives specialize in health for mothers and babies, here in our country, the roles are much broader. The shortage of doctors and nurses especially in disadvantaged areas makes it critical for midwives to expand their functions in the health of the community. Midwives are in a strong position to help achieve the SDG 2030 in various ways particularly Goals 3, 5, and 17 related to health and wellbeing of all people including mothers and newborns, to gender equality, and partnerships for the goals.
“Today we create another path toward achieving health care for all by involving midwives into a similar leadership development course,” said UPCN Dean Shiela Bonito. In the past four years, the UPCN has been conducting the leadership development course for public health nurses and has graduated 183 who are now immersed in primary health care.
Prof. Jennifer Pagiuo, UPCN Continuing Education and Community Extension Services Program Head, stated that July 2022 marks 2.5 years of the Global Strategic Directions for Midwifery and Nursing 2021-2025, a document that presents evidence-based practices and an interrelated set of priorities to help guide countries in ensuring that midwives and nurses optimally contribute to achieving UHC and other population health goals. She added that efforts to put concerted action into the forefront of policy in the areas of education, jobs, leadership, and service delivery have reached 50 percent as per the five-year challenge.
Charmaine Lingdas
