On World Health Day 2025 (April 7), UNFPA, International Confederation of Midwives, UNICEF, Jhpiego, and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched The Midwifery Accelerator: Expanding Quality Care for Women and Newborns.
The Midwifery Accelerator —developed in consultation with governments, global experts, UN agencies, civil society, and providers—makes a powerful call for countries to invest in midwifery care to save and transform the lives of women and their newborns around the world.
Too many women and newborns lose their lives because they do not receive the respectful and high-quality care they need throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Yet, ensuring universal access to care provided by midwives, including family planning, by 2035, could avert over 60% of all maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths. Midwives help prevent complications, reduce unnecessary medical interventions, and provide personalized, holistic care—ensuring better experiences for women and babies while easing pressure on overstretched health systems.
In midwifery models of care, midwives coordinate high quality care for women and their newborns, working as part of interdisciplinary teams. The best results are achieved when the same midwife or team of midwives provide care during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.
As countries strive to make the most of limited resources, midwifery models of care are a proven cost-effective approach to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths. Studies show that every $1 invested in care provided by midwives delivers up to a 16-fold return in economic and social benefits.*
The Midwifery Accelerator offers governments, funding partners and stakeholders a set of priorities, based on the latest evidence, and a clear path to expand midwifery models of care globally. The Accelerator calls on governments, partners and stakeholders to:
- Commit and Invest: Strengthen policies and mobilize funding to expand midwifery.
- Educate, Deploy, and Retain: Train, place, and support midwives to ensure they thrive.
- Advocate and Empower: Elevate midwife leadership, strengthen coalitions and drive accountability.
Download the Midwifery Accelerator
See also:
- The Global Position Paper on Transitioning to Midwifery Models of Care.
- The Midwifery Implementation Guidance
* Study conducted in Morocco. See Boukhalfa C, Ouakhzan B, Masbah H, Acharai L, Zbiri S (2024). Investing in midwifery for sustainable development goals in low-and middle-income countries: a cost-benefit analysis. Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation. 2024;22(1):1.
