Professional midwifery in Guatemala: A qualitative exploration of perceptions, attitudes and expectations among stakeholders.

Background: Despite recommendations that women give birth with a skilled birth attendant (SBA), 70% of births in Guatemala occur outside health facilities with informally trained traditional birth attendants (TBAs). To increase SBA in rural, indigenous communities, a professional midwifery school accredited by the government is scheduled to open in 2017. Drawing from Filby's model on barriers to the successful integration of professional midwifery into health systems, this paper aims to identify threats - and facilitators-toward professional midwifery's re-introduction in Guatemala.

Assessing political priority for reproductive health in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is among the top six countries contributing to the highest numbers of maternal deaths globally. The Ethiopian total fertility rate was estimated at 4.8 in 2011, and the use of contraceptives by married women was 29%.