There has been a chronic shortage of midwives in many Pacific countries over the years.
While speaking at the 75th International Midwifery Today Conference, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said we need more midwives and we need to train them better.
Bainimarama said Fiji has about 400 midwives who deliver about 80 per cent of normal births in our various health facilities.
He said we have a number of ongoing training programs in place to improve the quality of care we provide.
The conference aims to update knowledge of the Fijian midwives and help them acquire skills in providing safe birthing practices based on latest evidence for mothers in the Pacific.
The conference has delegates from United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and will end this Friday.
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