Society of midwives India (SOMI) Karnataka Chapter in association with KLE Academy of higher education and Research Institute of Nursing Sciences, Belagavi, Karnataka has organized two days National E conference on the occasion of International Day of Midwife 2021. The topic for the conference was “Holistic Approach to Strengthen Quality Care at Facility Level – LaQshya Quality Improvement Guidelines”

The first day of conference started on 6th May 2021 at 9.15 am with welcome address and unfolding the theme of International Day of Midwife by Dr. SudhaRaddi, Principal, KAHER INS, Belagavi. She spoke about importance of midwives and how Govt. of India initiated NPM to strengthen Midwifery in India. Prof. MithaliAdhikari, President, SOMI delivered inaugural address. She insisted midwives to come together to showcase out unity and strength by being independent. Vote of thanks was given by Mrs. Asha Bhat, Secretary, SOMI Karnataka Chapter.

Before the conference session participants are asked to answer the pre-test form. Link was shared in the chat box as well as in the whatsapp group which was created for conference. The first session started at 10 am with keynote address was delivered by Dr. N Rajkumar, Deputy Director Maternal Health, Govt. of Karnataka. He explained about LaQshya program its initiative, role of midwives and he also spoke about MLCU. This session was moderated by Dr. SudhaRaddi, Principal, KAHER INS, Belagavi.

The second session was dealt by Dr. ShivanadMastiholi, Taluka Health Officer, Belagavi. He spoke on Strengthening Documentation Practices. He explained about different types of checklist which is used at LaQshya accredited labour rooms and importance of maintain such documents. This session was moderated by Dr. NilimaBhore, Dean & Principal, BharatiVidyapeeth College of Nursing, Sangli, Maharashtra. The third session was on Triaging , RMC and birth companion. This session was managed by three of the resource people. Triaging was addressed by Ms. PricilaDarbar, Trainee Midwife Educator, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderabad. She discussed in detail about the triaging of pregnant women based on the priority. Respectful Maternity care was dealt by Ms. Amitha Trainee Midwife Educator, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderabad. She described the importance of RMC and shown a video on RMC. Ms. Fatima Juliet discussed about birth companion during labour. The importance of having and allowing the birth companion during labour. This session was moderated by Prof. (Lt.Col) Rekha Rani Gupta, Dean and Principal, People’s College of Nursing, People’s University, Bhopal, MP.

The fourth session was discussed by Dr. HemaPatil, Secretary, FOGSI, Belagavi Division, Associate Professor, Dept. of OBG, JNMC, Belagavi. Dr. HemaPatil explained about Managing labour, AMTSL and use of Uterotonics. She stressed on the importance of maintain partograph. This session was moderated by Mrs. ShubharaniMuragod, Asst. Professor, KAHER INS, Belagavi. The second day of conference was started on 7th May 2021 at 10 am. The first session was taken over by Mrs. JyothiLondhe, Tutor from District Hospital Pune. She spoke about management of complications and strengthening referral services. This session was moderated by Mrs. Uma Kole, Asst. Professor, KAHER INS, Belagavi.

The second day second session was taken over by Mrs. Sapna Thakur, Asst. Professor, Govt. College of Nursing, Raipur, Chattisgarh. She spoke on Emergency care of newborn and pre term from 11.15 am to 12.15 pm. She explained about care of newborn, breast feeding and demonstrated the expression of breast milk if the preterm is getting palleda feed. This session was moderated by Mrs. Asha Bhat, Secretary, SOMI Karnataka Chapter & Asst. Professor, KAHER INS, Belagavi

The last session of the conference was on infection control and biomedical waste management, which was dealt by Mrs. Jyotsna Bag, Teaching faculty, Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal. This session was moderated by Mrs. Navaneeta, Vice Principal, Arogyam College of Nursing, Roorkee, Uttarakhand. Mrs. Jyotsna explained very well about the importance of BMW management and it helps in health promotion. The conference ended with posttest and feedback of the participants. Total 417 participants registered across India. The participants are from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Gujarat and Kerala.