2023-05-07 02:54:06
Traditional indigenous medicine in Mexico has contributed to avoiding maternal deaths in at least 20 states of the country, reveals the report Current situation of indigenous midwifery 2021-2022, that today the general director of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), Adelfo Regino Montes, delivered to the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela.
At the ceremony that took place at the traditional medicine center of the municipality of Capulálpam, Oaxaca, Secretary Alcocer Varela highlighted that, for centuries, midwifery has been a traditional practice that has played an important role in maternal health care. and neonatal.
In Mexico, he said, three types of midwifery are recognized: the professional one, practiced by people who have graduated from an educational center; the certified one, in which the knowledge is obtained through courses or diplomas given by a health institution; and the traditional, which is recognized in the communities and is transmitted by inheritance and in native languages.
Alcocer Varela thanked the collaboration of midwives, doctors and traditional doctors for having contributed to meeting the health needs of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when the conversion of hospital centers occurred.
He said that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) proposed to Mexico a series of recommendations for strengthening midwifery since 2015; however, efforts were directed at professional midwifery to subdue communities.
He mentioned that the study of the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (Ciesas), carried out in Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Quintana Roo and Yucatán, shows that indigenous midwifery is a vital and valued practice in the communities, by performing an important role in maternal and child health.
He announced that midwifery and traditional medicine will play a key role in IMSS-Bienestar health centers, which have the challenge of achieving high standards of care with services focused on prevention.
On behalf of the midwives from various states of the country, the representative of the House of Indigenous Women (CAMI) of San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca, Nayma Villanueva Solís, expressed that “we are traditional healers of the soul and heart within our communities.”
It should be noted that the research project Current situation of indigenous midwifery 2021-2022 available in https://bit.ly/3nEOtLy It was carried out in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Veracruz. It highlights that midwifery is part of the health systems of indigenous peoples and is a resource for the care of people.
Traditional midwifery contributes to maternal health care and advances in compliance with international commitments regarding the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.
The document states that, in order to strengthen midwifery in Mexico, it is necessary to implement a public policy with actions that recognize the contributions of traditional midwives in the health of pregnant women and their families.
Likewise, access to birth certificates for girls and boys cared for by midwives must be guaranteed so that they have the right to identity, and respect the right of women to decide who to attend to.
(Photo: Special Portal)
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