Education

Saima Ishfaq

Assistant Professor (Midwifery Faculty)

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Health Services Academy (SONAM-HSA)

Islamabad · English, Urdu, Punjabi

Biography

Saima Ishfaq is Assistant Professor (Midwifery Faculty) at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Health Services Academy (SONAM-HSA), Islamabad, serving under UNFPA since July 2022. She brings more than 13 years of experience in clinical nursing, midwifery education and public health.

Her qualifications include registered nursing and midwifery training from Bolan Medical College, cardiac specialisation, a Post RN BSc in Midwifery from Aga Khan University and an MSPH from Health Services Academy. She previously worked with Médecins Sans Frontières, Bolan Medical Complex and Foundation University Islamabad.

At HSA, she teaches BS Midwifery, mentors students, maintains skills labs and contributes to curricula and faculty development. Her training interests include simulation-based teaching, emergency obstetric and newborn care, and community midwifery. A WHO EMRO feature dated 2 April 2025 describes her use of the WHO Labour Care Guide in teaching midwifery students at HSA.

Areas of expertise

• Midwifery education and governance
• NCD research and prevention
• Faculty development and simulation-based teaching
• Maternal, newborn and child health
• Public health and community midwifery training

Key achievements

Midwifery education: Contributes to BS Midwifery curriculum development, course grids, clinical rosters, student mentoring and skills-lab teaching at HSA. Master training: Facilitated Helping Mothers Survive training at PIMS Islamabad (31 October–3 November 2022) and Koohi Goth Women Hospital Karachi (7–11 November 2022). Faculty development: Facilitated hands-on simulation faculty-development training at HSA (6–10 October 2025), with wider training work in ETAT, EmONC, post-abortion care, family planning and the WHO Labour Care Guide. Research certification: Completed the Fogarty-Aga Khan University Pakistan Initiative for Non-Communicable Diseases (AKUPI NCD) Research Certification Course, September 2025–February 2026.

Engagement interests

Speaker · Panelist · TV / Radio · Podcast · Mentor · Training

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