VOA标准英语2014--70多个国家助产士短缺

 

Report Warns of Midwife Shortages in More Than 70 Countries 70多个国家助产士短缺

A new report said there’s a severe shortage of midwives in more than 70 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Those countries suffer 96 percent of the world’s maternal¹ deaths and more than 90 percent of stillbirths and newborn deaths.

The report is a joint² publication of the U.N. Population Fund, the International Confederation of Midwives, the World Health Organization and others.

Population fund Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin said, “Midwives are the unsung heroes of maternal, newborn health. Indeed, they are the unsung heroes for public health in the world.”

Also on hand for the release of The State of the World’s Midwifery 2014 report was Frances Day-Stirk, president of the midwives confederation.

She said, “Addressing the shortages of midwives and midwifery services across low and middle income countries could save the lives of millions of women and newborns each year. And the report calls for urgent investment in high quality midwifery care to prevent about two-thirds of all maternal and newborn deaths. Millions of lives saved.”

The report said investing in midwifery education and training would help close – what it calls – glaring gaps in maternal and newborn health care. And the return on the investment, it said, would be huge.

“Midwives can perform about 87 to 90 percent of essential care for women and newborns, but only when they’re educated to global standards,” said Day-Stirk.

This year’s midwifery report is titled A Universal Pathway, A Woman’s Right to Health. It said that “countries should consider the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of the midwifery workforce³ in order to provide quality services.” It goes on to say that many countries have begun taking “bold steps” to improve midwifery.

Day-Stirk said, “Saving those lives does not only mean preventing personal tragedies for families, it also means more productivity for the women and the babies who survive and thrive and the babies who grow into healthy adults.”

UNFPA chief Osotimehin added, “All women need and deserve respectful, compassionate⁴ care before, during and after pregnancy⁵ and birth.”

1 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。