©UNFPA/Rada Akbar.
Samira, a midwife, gives health advice to a patient in Foladi clinic in October 2016 in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
Midwifery and midwifery models of care are essential to improve maternal and newborn health and prevent stillbirths. The 2024 World Health Organization Transitioning to midwifery models of care: global position paper collates inputs of over 100 individuals and organisations and defines midwifery models of care.
The implementation guidance on transitioning to midwifery models of care provides a structured transition framework and assessment tool and evidence-based practices to support countries at any stage of transition.
©UNFPA/Lisa Thanner.
A midwife is presenting a newborn to the mother at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in January 2022.
Midwifery models of care are models of care in which the main care providers for women and newborns, starting from pre-pregnancy and continuing all the way through the postnatal period, are educated, licensed, regulated midwives who autonomously provide and coordinate respectful, high-quality care across their full scope of practice, using an approach that is aligned with the midwifery philosophy of care, which: promotes a person-centered approach to care, values the woman-midwife relationship, optimises physiological, psychological, social and cultural processes, and uses interventions only when indicated.
©UNFPA.
Pregnant women doing balance ball exercises with a midwife in a health facility in China.
In midwifery models of care, midwives provide integrated care, addressing the needs of each individual woman and newborn, within functional and enabling health systems, equipped with necessary resources and streamlined consultation and referral processes. They collaborate within networks of care as part of interdisciplinary teams characterized by equality, trust and respect. This approach guarantees that every woman and newborn receives personalized care, tailored to their health needs.
Midwifery models of care are adaptable to all levels of care and contexts, including home-, community- and hospital-based settings; the public and private sectors and public–private partnerships; resource-constrained environments; and humanitarian and crisis settings. This ensures wide accessibility, equity and relevance across different cultural contexts for women, newborns, partners, families and communities.
could be averted by 2035 with universal coverage of interventions provided by midwives.
for essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health interventions could be met by midwives, with the support of interdisciplinary teams.
Save lives and improve health and well-being of women, newborns, partners, families and communities
Humanize care and are responsive to the needs of women
Contribute to a better society and advance human capital in an uncertain world
Are a cost-effective intervention with potential long-term economic benefits
Midwifery models of care are informed by the following guiding principles:
In midwifery care models, midwives are the primary caregivers for women and newborns before, during, and after childbirth, working as part of interdisciplinary teams. They specialize in supporting healthy and physiological processes during this crucial time, with their care potentially extending before pregnancy and beyond the postnatal period. Midwives are responsible for their own decisions and actions within their scope of practice. If more complex care or specialized treatments are needed, they collaborate with specialist doctors like obstetricians, pediatricians, and anesthesiologists to ensure women and newborns receive the best possible care. When midwives are well-educated, licensed, and work in teams with other healthcare providers, they can deliver respectful, high-quality, and personalized care tailored to the specific needs of each woman and newborn.
©UNFPA.
A woman receives midwifery care during pregnancy in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in September 2017.
Sources:
©WHO/Faizza Tanggol>
Maternal and Child Health Nurse Temalesi Lalabalavu helps soothe a baby after administering a vaccine, as part of the National Immunization Programme in Fiji., in October 2023.
First webinar in a four-part series sharing lessons from the Accelerating Measurable Progress and Leveraging Investments for Postpartum Hemorrhage Impact (AMPLI-PPHI) project. Organized by Jhpiego.
An event during the WHA79 to share high-level messages from the EWENE-Child Survival Action progress report.
A reception during WHA79
For the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly
These messages were developed by the United Advocacy Working Group for Maternal, Newborn and Child health.
Posters presented by 40 country delegations at the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference 2026.
International Maternal Newborn Health
Conference (IMNHC) 2026
These key messages and advocacy asks are intended to equip partners with evidence-based messaging and
resources in the context of IMNHC 2026.
