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2021 International Day of the Midwife
May 5, 2021
On the International Day of the Midwife 2021, CGFNS International joins the International Confederation of Midwives, the WHO and the international community in celebrating midwives around the globe.
This year’s theme, Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives, highlights the importance of investing in midwives as essential providers of primary healthcare and how their impact has been proven to save lives, improve health and strengthen health systems.
Coinciding with this celebratory day, the WHO and partners have released the 2021 State of the World’s Midwifery Report developed by UNFPA, WHO and the International Confederation of Midwives. The report contains unprecedented findings on the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) workforce from 194 countries. Notably, midwives can provide 90% of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent care needed globally, but they account for less than 10% of the SRMNAH workforce. Beyond a broader shortage of 1.1 million SRMNAH workers, 900,000 of those are midwives.
Based on the data gathered, the report found that investment is urgently needed in the following areas:
- Health workforce planning, management and working environment
- High-quality education and training
- Midwife-led improvements to service delivery
- Midwifery leadership and governance
Read the full State of the World’s Midwifery Report 2021 at UNFPA: https://www.unfpa.org/sowmy.
Learn more about CGFNS’ global impact here.