News

Midwifery training helps doctors, nurses level up their skills in rural China

03 August 2021
Dr. Cairen Sangji conducts an antenatal examination for a local Tibetan woman in Yushu, Qinghai Province. Image courtesy of Yushu County Maternal and Child Health Hospital
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News

Midwives bring portable ultrasound technology to remote communities in Kenya

15 July 2021
A midwife examines a pregnant woman using the portable ultrasound device. © UNFPA Kenya
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News

Partnering with traditional birth attendants to reach Afro-descendant and indigenous women in Colombia

06 July 2021
Traditional midwives are working with health systems to provide both modern and traditional care to expectant mothers. © UNFPA Colombia
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News

As Afghanistan grapples with surge in COVID-19 cases, one midwife shares her strength

23 June 2021
Mastura Zia provides maternal health services to Afghan returnees, many of them deported from neighbouring Iran. © Zaeem Abdul Rahman/UNFPA Afghanistan
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News

Helping women and girls claim their bodily autonomy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

09 June 2021
UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem and East and Southern Regional Director Julitta Onabanjoeets with Nobel Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege as well as community members, advocates and survivors. © UNFPA/Luis Tato
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News

After childbirth trauma, Afghan women emerge from life in shadows

07 June 2016
Noorjahan laughs as she recovers from fistula surgery in Malalai Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. Now, she says, "I can live." © Andrea Bruce/ NOOR
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News

In crisis after crisis, mothers around the world are asked to do the impossible

05 May 2021
A new mother of twins is attended by maternal health nurse Ana Paula Francisco Adrade. Nurse Adrade says it has been challenging to get enough gloves and face masks to safely care for pregnant women. © UNFPA Mozambique
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UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on The State of the World’s Midwifery 2021 Report

The world is currently facing an acute shortage of 900,000 midwives, which represents a third of the required global midwifery workforce. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated these problems, with the health needs of women and newborns being overshadowed, midwifery services being disrupted and midwives being deployed to other health services.

News

Global shortage of 900,000 midwives threatens women’s lives and health, new report shows

04 May 2021
Midwives with a mobile team in Marib, Yemen, provide life-saving services in a displacement camp. © UNFPA Yemen
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