During her recent visit to Bangladesh, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem met three young women who are helping mothers deliver their babies safely in the district of Gaibandha, in the far northwest of the country.

In this video, she explains how midwives are making a difference in this remote area, with support from UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.

Learn more about how UNFPA supports midwifery around the world.

After 13 years of conflict, midwives in northwest Syria are saving lives.

See how crucial midwives are to ensuring pregnant women in need can give birth safely and find out more about how UNFPA—the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency—is supporting women and girls in Syria. Learn more. 

Join UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, to celebrate the heroes who protect the health and rights of mothers and babies around the world. Learn more.

“It is full of the smell of death."

The scenes of destruction in Gaza are unimaginable. Maternity wards emptied of patients and destroyed as life-saving maternal health supplies burn.

Pregnant women have nowhere to go to give birth safely.

See the levels of destruction and hear about the impact on pregnant women from Dominic Allen, Representative for UNFPA—the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency—in Palestine on his recent visit to Khan Younis.

From the newly created UNRWA field hospital in Gaza, UNFPA Palestine Representative Dominic Allen tells us the catastrophic situation on the ground.

With hospitals being far over capacity, midwives and doctors are beyond exhausted.

UNFPA is committed to providing them with much-needed support and supplies.

Amid conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, midwives deployed by UNFPA—the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency—are providing life-saving care for pregnant women in need.

Find out more about our ongoing humanitarian response to the crisis here.

Charity is one of the UNFPA-supported midwives who is responding to the worst drought in 40 years in the Horn of Africa.

See how we’re protecting the health and rights of millions of women and girls affected by this humanitarian crisis in Kenya.

Meet Elisa, the midwife who leads the delivery room at San Andrés Hospital in Colombia.

With her team, she ensures that every woman receives quality health care while being treated with dignity and respect.

See how UNFPA supports her and other midwives around the world.