Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Home > Country action > Yemen

Every Woman Every Newborn in Yemen

Download the full profile with additional key demographics, progress against milestones, and more.

This profile was developed in May 2023, using data from 2018-2023.

©UNFPA.

Aisha is in the health center with Dr. Zinah’s clinic in Aden, undertaking a prenatal check up in February 2022..

National mortality targets

Maternal mortality ratio

200 per 100,000 live births by 2025

Stillbirth
rate

No data

Neonatal mortality rate

27 per 1,000 live births by 2025

Progress to meet the national maternal, newborn mortality and stillbirth reduction targets

©UNFPA. Health worker, Aydah Mohamed, taking care of neonatal babies in the neonatal department in Al Shaab Hospital in Aden, Yemen in 2022.

Progress to meet Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere coverage targets

MNH Acceleration Plan highlights

A national maternal and newborn health strategy and the midwifery strategy are developed and have costed action plans listing the human resources, medicines, equipment etc., required for their implementation.
The national set of maternal and newborn health indicators will be reviewed and updated in 2025.
Access to quality maternal and neonatal care services for low resources populations is improving through: scale up of performance-based finance programmes, including voucher programmes, support to critical emergency obstetrics and newborn care hospitals to provide free of charge health services to mothers with complications and sick newborns.
Service coverage is increasing in hard-to-reach areas through community-based services: deployment of maternal and newborn mobile teams quarterly, based in remote areas; dialogue with community on establishing transport means in hard to reach areas. The community primary health care strategy is under development.
RH-IMS was updated to facility and community levels to help count every mother and newborn.
Maternal and newborn health lifesaving medicines and family planning commodities are integrated in the LMIS.
Two additional obstetric fistula management units are planned.

©UNFPA.
A health worker is checking on the health of the neonatal babies in the neonatal department in Al Shaab Hospital in Aden, Yemen in February 2022.

Quality of care in Yemen (common to South and North)

As part of its efforts to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and stillbirths, Yemen is taking steps to improve the quality of maternal and newborn health. Yemen’s successes include:

Set quality criteria for the delivery of healthcare services to newborns, at each level of health system (Community, PHC, BEmOC and CEmONC).
Developed a quality improvement programme in all selected health facilities according to standards.
Provided in-service training for midwives and dcotors on all MNH Guidelines (EmONC, CBMNC, FP, KMC, ENC, Referral, etc,.
Strengthened the capacity of health facilities to provide EmONC services.
Procured and distributed essential equipment, and procured lifesaving EmONC drugs and contraceptives, and distributed them to health facilities.
Strengthened the capacity of Neonatal Care Units at selected referral hospitals through the provision of equipment and lifesaving drugs.
Strengthened maternal and newborn death surveillance system; activated the MPNDSR at facility level and developed the MPNDSR at community level.
Rolled out a pilot to advocate for the development of the MPNDSR.
Developing a communication and advocacy plan as part of the national MNH strategy to improve the maternal and newborn health-related family practices, with a special focus on improving breastfeeding practices.
Identifying focal persons among influential leaders to advocate for MCH.
Conducted an annual advocacy campaign for MNCH care with the slogan“ Together for Saving Mothers’ and Children’ Lives’.

News and events

Sierra Leone is making strides to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths

July 4, 2025

Sierra Leone focuses on quality of care to increase the chances of survival, health and wellbeing of pregnant women, new mothers and newborns.

Born Too Soon Supplement launch webinar

June 16, 2025

The Born Too Soon Supplement, a key milestone in global efforts to prevent preterm birth and improve outcomes for newborns and their families. This interactive webinar will introduce the supplement’s main findings and highlight its relevance for researchers, policymakers, and advocates alike.

Do you work on improving health around the world? Have your say!

June 3, 2025

This is your chance to contribute to the Lancet Commission for Evidence-based Implementation.

Take this short survey by 27 June.

Resources

State of the world’s nursing report 2025

The 2025 edition of the State of the world’s nursing provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce. The report features new indicators on critical areas for nursing, such as education capacity, advanced practice nursing and remuneration, policy priorities and a compilation of data from each WHO region.

Country profiles reflect each country’s national data and are available for download from the WHO National Health Workforce Accounts data portal.

Joint Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere and Child Survival Action on the impact of ODA cuts

Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere and Child Survival Action joint messages on the impact of ODA cuts on maternal, newborn and child health. Prepared for the 78th World Health Assembly, in May 2025.

The Midwifery Accelerator: Expanding health care for women and newborns

Investing in midwives is a cost-effective and sustainable strategy to improve maternal and newborn health and well-being and reduce mortality. There is ample evidence to show that care provided by midwives is women centric, significantly advances maternal and newborn health outcomes, strengthens health systems, and helps build future healthier generations.

The Midwifery Accelerator: Expanding Quality Care for Women and Newborns —developed in consultation with governments, global experts, UN agencies, civil society, and providers—calls on governments, funders and other stakeholders to invest in midwifery care to save and transform the lives of women and their newborns around the world.

Download the Midwifery Accelerator

See also:

The Global Position Paper on Transitioning to Midwifery Models of Care.
The Midwifery Implementation Guidance

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Get Involved

You can help us give mothers and their babies the best chance at life.

Contact us

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Get Involved

You can help us give mothers and their babies the best chance at life.

Contact us

Photo © 2020 WHO / Tatiana Almeida
Midwives during WHO Head of Sub-Office Dr Kai von Harbou visit to Hope Field Hospital

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Country action

Yemen

Every Woman Every Newborn in Yemen