LONDON, 22 January. - (ANA) - A global shortage of nearly a million midwives is leaving pregnant women without the basic care needed to prevent harm, including the deaths of mothers and babies, according to new research.

 

Almost half the shortage was in Africa, where nine in 10 women lived in a country without enough midwives, the researchers said.

 

Anna af Ugglas, chief executive of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and one of the study’s authors, said: “Nearly 1 million missing midwives means health systems are stretched beyond capacity, midwives are overworked and underpaid, and care becomes rushed and fragmented.

 

“Intervention rates rise, and women are more likely to experience poor-quality care or mistreatment,” she said. “This is not only a workforce issue, it is a quality and safety issue for women and babies.”

 

For all women to receive safe, good-quality care before, during and after pregnancy, an additional 980,000 midwives would be needed across 181 countries, the study found.

 

According to previous research, universal access to midwife-delivered care could prevent two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives annually by 2035.

 

The ICM said the issue was not only a lack of training places for midwives, but also a failure in many countries to employ trained midwives where they were needed and to retain those who were working in health services.

 

Africa has only 40% of the midwives it needs, the eastern Mediterranean only 31%, and the Americas just 15%, researchers found. Shortfalls were much smaller, although still present, in other regions including south-east Asia and Europe.

 

The study, published in the journal Women and Birth, estimated the number of midwives who would be needed to carry out a list of basic midwifery tasks for all eligible women and babies in 181 countries. The tasks included counselling on contraception, antenatal care and screening, and care during childbirth. - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/22 January 2026 - - -