Bottom: Auditorium with enthusiastic Delegates
ENARADA, Bhubaneshwar, September 13, 2013:
The 11th National Conference of the Society of Midwives, India (SOMI) was inaugurated at Kalinga Institute of Nursing Sciences (KINS), a constituent of KIIT University, on September 13, 2013 by Dr. Damodar Rout, Hon’ble Minister, Health & Family Welfare and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Govt. of Odisha in the presence of Dr. A. Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS; Ms. B. Bhattacharya, Founder President SOMI; Dr. M. Prakasamma, Director, ANSWERS; Prof. M. Venkat, Secretary SOMI; Prof. R. L. Mishra, Conference Secretary; and Prof A. Lenka, Conference Chairperson.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Rout said, maternal and newborn care is a very essential medical service and all midwives should be made aware to improve the quality of this service. Stating that common people’s access to midwifery remains low, he said, Central and State Governments are thinking of ways to improve the situation. Midwives play an important role in ensuring safe motherhood, he said, adding that the State Government is going to establish maternity wards in eleven districts of Odisha.
US spends more than 17.7% of their total GDP on health care system, while India is spending only 2% of the GDP in this sector, he informed. Low expenditure is one of the bottlenecks in providing quality service, he said.
Midwifery is a noble profession, as midwives provide very important services like childbirth, said Dr. Samanta, while extending a warm welcome to the guest and delegates of the national conference.
The theme of conference is ‘Midwives: Advocating Quality Improvement in Maternal and Newborn Care’. More than 200 Nurse Administrator, Educators, Direct care provider (Labour room nurses) and PG students from Delhi, J&K, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam are taking part in the meet.
Dr. M. Prakasamma informed the general objectives of the conference, while Prof. Lenka welcomes all delegates. Prof. Das preside over the inaugural session.
