An international women's group says it is raising funds to boost midwifery skills in Papua New Guinea.
The president of the New Zealand branch of Soroptomists International, Judith Lowes, says maternal and infant mortality rates in PNG are terrible and she hopes the project can help the country achieve the Millenium Development Goals of improving birth outcomes.
The New Zealand and Australian women's group is working with local branches in PNG to run clinical training sessions.
She says while birth attendants and midwives in PNG have plenty of experience, the amount of training they have had is often unclear, so this is a chance to upgrade maternity services.
"We're hoping to upgrade the maternity units in the main centres. But the main thing is to train the midwives who are actually out in the rural districts so that they can actually have good practices and hopefully that will help to reduce both the maternal and the infant mortality in the areas."
The president of the New Zealand branch Soroptomists International, Judith Lowes.
