In a year that has presented enormous challenges, it is even more gratifying to present evidence that strengthens the importance of midwives as providers of essential sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and the impact they can have on maternal and neonatal mortality and stillbirths, said Anneka Knutsson, Chief of the SRH Branch at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at  a recent Wilson Center event, in partnership with UNFPA and Johnson & Johnson, to launch the Impact of Midwives study conducted by UNFPA, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), and the World Health Organization (WHO) and published in The Lancet Global Health.

This research will provide an updated, evidenced-based, and detailed analysis of the present progress and future challenges to deliver effective coverage and quality of midwifery services, said Knutsson. The study will enable stronger policy dialogue within countries and strengthen existing sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services, said Knutsson.

This study also adds confidence to findings from the 2014 Lancet paper on midwifery, said Andrea Nove, Technical Director of Novametrics and lead author. The study examined four scenarios of coverage for midwife-delivered interventions: 1) a modest 10 percent scale up every five years, 2) a substantial 25 percent scale up in the same time period, 3) universal coverage, and 4) a decrease in coverage. The data showed that a substantial 25 percent scale up by 2035 could avert 40 percent of maternal and newborn deaths and one-quarter of stillbirths. That would translate to 2.2 million fewer deaths by 2035, said Nove.

The study specifically focuses on “midwife-delivered interventions,” said Nove. Such interventions must directly affect mortality or nutritional status, be listed in the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescent’s Health, and be able to be delivered in entirety by a midwife trained to ICM standards, said Nove. “Nobody is suggesting here that midwives should be left alone to deliver these interventions. But we did want to highlight the fact that they are an occupation group, which can have a massive impact,” said Nove.

Franka Cadée, President of ICM, could barely contain her excitement about the study. “And I’m excited mainly, because this paper supports and confirms growing scientific evidence that should be celebrated by every woman and every midwife worldwide. And of course, if we care about healthy families and the healthy future generation, it should be celebrated by everyone worldwide,” she said. “Midwifery has a long-term impact. And this paper shows that.”

In addition to decreased maternal deaths, neonatal deaths, and stillbirths, greater access to midwifery care worldwide could improve many other aspects of reproductive health. For example, in many high-income countries, midwives provide contraceptive care, abortion services, antenatal care, breastfeeding care, cervical cancer screening, and immunizations, said Cadée, and these types of care should be accessible through midwives globally. “So what it boils down to,” she said, “is that women worldwide should have access to midwives, who’ve been educated to the standards of the International Confederation of Midwives, and who are supported by a team and that magic word, the enabling environment.”

“If we implement this evidence, the world would look brighter,” said Cadée. “Not just for midwives and women, but for humanity.”