Midwifery capacity building in Papua New Guinea: Key achievements and ways forward.

Background: Papua New Guinea has some of the poorest health outcomes in the Asia-Pacific region. Maternal mortality is unacceptably high and there is a severe midwifery shortage requiring a quadrupling of the workforce.

Aim: This paper outlines the findings of an evaluation of the Maternal Child Health Initiative (MCHI) (2012-2013) to determine key factors contributing to maternal health workforce strengthening.