International Day of the Midwife 2022

with information of UNFPA and ICM 

5 May marks International Day of the Midwife, celebrating the work of midwives around the globe and the care they provide to women and families. 
 
This year, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), which began as the International Midwives Union in Belgium, turns a century-old, celebrating with the theme “100 years of progress”.  The theme recognises the meaningful progress in the midwifery field over the past century.
 
The UNFPA, the ICM and the World Health Organization’s 2021 State of the World’s Midwifery report revealed that if governments invested in midwives, 4.3 million lives could be saved every year by 2035, a number that includes maternal deaths, neonatal deaths and stillbirths.
 
According to UNFPA, this group of mostly women health care professionals could meet 90 per cent of reproductive health needs and prevent 65 per cent of maternal and newborn deaths. 
 
“Midwives have been strengthening primary health-care systems for decades and will play a vital role in the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents in the decades to come”.
 
For the 2022 campaign, the International Confederation of Midwives also compiled an Advocacy Toolkit and Resources Pack, with messages and graphics to advocate for midwives and midwifery on and beyond 5 May 2022. Discover the Digital Toolkit HERE.
 
Read the Rural Nursing and Midwifery Albuquerque Statement 2019 HERE. A statement created by the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice. 
 
Visit the UNFPA page about International Day of the Midwife HERE.