05/05/2026
Today is International Day of the Midwife, and this year's theme is one we believe in deeply: One Million More Midwives.
To us, this is not just a slogan. It is a shared demand, grounded in evidence and driven by the realities that midwives, and the women they care for, face every single day.
Behind every statistic is a mother. A family. A community holding its breath.
In 2023 alone, an estimated 160,000 women died from preventable maternal causes in fragile and conflict-affected settings... that is 6 in 10 maternal deaths worldwide, despite these countries accounting for only around one in ten of global live births.
Six in ten. In settings where health systems are already stretched thin. Where skilled care before, during and after birth is disrupted or simply out of reach. These are not inevitable losses. They are preventable, and midwives are central to the solution.
Midwives could provide around 90% of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health services. Yet in the communities that need them most, they are too often absent, unsupported, or not enabled to work to their full scope of practice. And, that has to change.
When midwives are educated to international standards, fairly paid, properly regulated and truly integrated into health systems, outcomes improve. Maternal deaths decrease. Care becomes more accessible, more respectful, and more consistent. Investing in midwives is one of the smartest, and most human, investments a health system can make.
This is why our Nurses In Action midwife volunteers show up in Nepal, Kenya and Uganda, sitting alongside local health workers, supporting mothers, and showing up for communities where skilled midwifery care is limited. It is a small part of a much larger picture. But every woman who receives skilled, compassionate care during pregnancy and birth matters. Every single one.
Today, the world is already listening. It is our moment to speak clearly, together, about what must change. The world needs one million more midwives.
