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.
An executive summary of the key points from the detailed analyses conducted for the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021, including an infographic which presents the headline results and conclusions.
A 4-page summary of the key points from the detailed analyses conducted for the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021. It sets out the scale of the workforce challenges and proposes 4 areas in which bold investments in midwives and midwifery are needed.
A detailed explanation of the data in the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 country profile and the sources and definitions used to produce it. The data and analysis are explained, and advice is provided on how to interpret and use the country profiles.
Technical details of the methods used to produce the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 analyses, including: definitions of key terms, data collection methods, analysis and modelling methods, assumptions made to compensate for missing data, and countries included in the main analyses.
Two papers about groups at risk of being “left behind” in terms of access to Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) workers: (i) adolescents and (ii) women, newborns and adolescents in humanitarian and fragile settings. The papers describe the health workforce challenges and gives examples of initiatives to improve access for these groups.