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The State of the World’s Midwifery 2021

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Midwives per 10,000 population

Colour indicates the number of midwives per 10,000 population. "Midwives" includes midwifery professionals, midwifery associate professionals, midwives not further defined, nursing professionals with midwifery training and nursing associate professionals with midwifery training

Click on a country to view key data and access the SoWMy 2021 country profile

  • 10+
  • 4 - 9.99
  • 3 - 3.99
  • 2 - 2.99
  • 1 - 1.99
  • 0 - 0.99
  • not reported
View how to read Country Profiles
nr = not reported
Last update date: 3 May 2021
The estimates shown for the key SRMNAH indicators were those available in mid-2020 and used for the modelling of the estimates for other indicators in this report. More recent updates to these data sources are not captured. A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
Data sources:
Midwives per 10,000 population, number of midwives: National Health Workforce Accounts, 2020 update
Pregnancies: Live births from World Population Prospects 2019 revision with a multiplier based on Tatem et al. 2014
Births attended by skilled health personnel: SDG indicator database
Maternal mortality ratio: WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UN Population Division, 2019
Neonatal mortality rate UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality estimation, 2020
UNFPA
ICM
WHO

The designations employed and the presentation of material on the map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNFPA concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.

Statement

Trust the evidence: invest in midwives

05 May 2021
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News

Yemeni midwives help deliver hope during Ramadan

01 April 2021
Midwife Rahma attends to Halima, who is due to give birth during Ramadan, at her home that has been outfitted as a maternity clinic. © UNFPA Yemen
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News

From child bride to midwife saving lives of Afghan mothers

10 March 2021
Amina Mansoory is the only midwife serving in a remote district (population:1500) of Herat province in western Afghanistan. © UNFPA Afghanistan
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Executive Summary: Implementation Manual for developing a national network of maternity units

Submitted by patwari on

This document is the executive summary of the implementation manual for developing a national network of maternity units and aims to give the key messages of the manual.

Also in this series:

Implementation Manual for Developing a National Network of Maternity Units: Improving Emergency Obstetric And Newborn Care (EmONC)

News

Amid pandemic and unrest, midwives undeterred in saving lives in Conakry

11 February 2021
A midwife at the Communal Medical Centre in Matam wraps newborns in warm blankets. © UNFPA Guinea
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News

2020 Year in Review: Top 5 stories affecting women and girls

28 December 2020
In pandemic times, midwives around the world like Selina Akter in Bangladesh helped deliver a safer world. Image courtesy of Selina Akter
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Infographic on Impact of Midwives Study

Submitted by patwari on

This infographic highlights key findings from a new study led by UNFPA, WHO and the International Confederation of Midwives, published in the Lancet Global Health on 1 December 2020. The study discusses the potential impact of increasing coverage rates of midwife delivered interventions in preventing and saving millions of maternal and newborn lives, unsafe abortions and still births.

UNFPA Maternal and Newborn Health Thematic Fund

The Maternal and Newborn Health Thematic Fund (MHTF) is UNFPA’s flagship programme for improving maternal and newborn health and well-being. That Thematic Fund is supported by donors committed to making childbirth safer for all women, girls and newborns. These efforts encompass the UNFPA Midwifery Global Programme, Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care development, as well as Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response, the Campaign to End Fistula.

News

Midwives on the front lines working to reverse Afghanistan’s high maternal death rate

21 October 2020
A midwife takes a woman's blood pressure at a family health house in rural Afghanistan. © UNFPA Afghanistan
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