VOA标准英语2010年-Report Calls for Hundreds of Thousands

An international group of midwives is calling for a dramatic increase in midwifery services especially in remote poor areas, so the lives of many more women and their babies can be saved. The World Health Organization says more than two million women and infants die during pregnancy¹ or childbirth every year, and a large number of those deaths occur in developing countries. The goal is to hire and train at least 300,000 more midwives by the year 2015.

The numbers sound staggering:  Two million preventable maternal² deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths every year.

And a new report called "Countdown to 2015" says  the cure is more midwives.  Almost half of the women living in 68 countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia give birth without a midwife, doctor or a skilled birth attendant.

A multitude of experts from the World Health Organization, Aga Khan University and other groups compiled the report.

If we can get midwifery coverage³ out there, we can reduce maternal and infant morbidity⁴ and mortality by 90 percent.  And that will make a tremendous difference to the health and well being of mothers and their newborns," said Bridget Lynch, the president of the International Confederation of Midwives.

The World Health Organization is calling for the recruitment, training and funding of at least 330-thousand new midwives in these regions. 

The Countdown report calls for 700,000 new midwives and health care workers to provide childbirth services for women all over the globe.

Bridget Lynch says midwives have not gotten the respect they deserve and are often poorly paid.

"Governments have been trying to find cheaper, quicker fixes in terms of educating different [cadres?] of health care workers with midwifery skills, and the world is not recognizing the need.  We need to educate midwives to supervise these [cadres?], to be training them and also to be providing services on the ground," she said.

The WHO says one additional midwife in a health care facility can help deliver as many as 220 babies yearly. 

In South Africa, midwife Precious Robinson says the shortage is made worse by many women leaving the profession.

"Midwives are leaving the country.  Some are retiring.  Some are dying and being affected⁵ by HIV and AIDS… and all… here's a huge problem.  But with more resources, I think we can do more.  We can train more and [meet] capacity… because clearly our hospitals are understaffed.  Our facilities are clearly understaffed," said  Robinson. 

The International Confederation of Midwives says with the support of the United Nations, the World Health Organization and large non-profit organizations, it is more optimistic about
 

1 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。

2 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。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。