WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the International Convention of Midwives launched the Framework for action: Strengthening quality midwifery education for UHC 2030.
When midwives are educated to international standards, and midwifery includes the provision of family planning, it could avert more than 80% of all maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Achieving this impact also requires that midwives are licensed, regulated, fully integrated into health systems and working in interprofessional teams. Yet there is a startling lack of investment in quality midwifery education, despite the evidence of impact. Now is the time to take collective action.
The Framework is a guide to develop high-quality, sustainable pre- and in-service education to save lives, and includes a seven-step action plan for use by all stakeholders in maternal and newborn health.
- Download the Framework
- Listen to WHO's Chief Nursing Officer, Elizabeth Iro - setting out the importance of the Framework
- Read more
- If you are attending the World Health Assembly, join the launch of the Framework today, 18:00-19:30, Palais des Nations, Room 23 - see the agenda
Photo: Every woman and newborn should be cared for by a midwife educated to international standards. ©H4+/Sven Torfinn