FOUR MIDWIVES from Malawi are to visit maternity units at hospitals in Tayside and Fife as part of a study tour of Scotland.

Malawi has one of the world’s worst maternal death rates and midwives from Scotland have visited the country to help with training.

The Royal College of Midwives has sponsored places for four midwives from Malawi to attend the International Congress of Midwives’ (ICM) 28th Triennial Congress in Glasgow from tomorrow until Thursday, and to tour Scottish maternity units from Dumbarton to Edinburgh.

The tour will include visits to Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Perth Royal Infirmary and Forth Park Hospital, Kirkcaldy.

The RCM’s director for Scotland, Gillian Smith, said, “The statistics for mothers who die in childbirth and for infant mortality in Malawi are shocking. Scottish midwives could not fail to be moved and angered by the harsh reality of conditions there.

“A number of our members have been to Malawi to offer training and support.

“The study tour is an extension of the spirit of the ICM and will extend the hands-on learning of the conference to Scotland’s maternity units for the Malawian midwives,” she added.