The final examination of BRAC University’s second batch of midwifery students is complete, with all 163 students passing the exam. For these midwives, the Developing Midwives Project (DMP) initiated advocacy efforts around their ‘internship’ – the Community Engagement of Graduate Midwives (CEGM). This internship provides these young women with exposure to the public healthcare system especially in the under-represented community.
The DMP team met with staff from BRAC’s Health, Nutrition and Population Programme on 12 June and chalked out a draft plan of how best to place these midwives in their clinics for more hands-on support with the work at the maternal centres. Unique to this year is the inclusion of a two-month clinical segment with four months in a community setting.
Once introduced to local government health offices, the deployed midwives build rapport with the existing maternal care givers, and establish their entry into the public health domain. They interact with midwives coming from other streams, sharpen their learning by employing a hands-on approach, and widen their network of maternal care givers.