International Day of Midwife was celebrated on Thursday. The day is dedicated to all the midwives across the globe who care for their patients and help in getting well.

It has been found that Afghan midwife come across many pregnancy related problems every day. Fatima Hamdard, a Young Afghan Midwife said the country has limited access to health care facilities, especially those related to pregnancy and women. Statistics reveal one woman dies from pregnancy related causes in every 30 minutes in Afghanistan.

She also said that there is a lack of midwives in the country. No proper help or support is made available to the pregnant women of the country because of less number of midwives. At present, there are more than 2,900 midwives serving throughout Afghanistan. Health officials believe that in order to provide basic services and to check high rate of maternal mortality the country requires

Minister for Public Health, Suraya Dalil said that shortage of has been hugely contributing to maternal and child mortality. She said that the country is required to do a lot more efforts to improve the status of children and mother in the country.