Every two minutes, a woman dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth.

Every 17 seconds, a baby is lost before birth, and each year 2.3 million newborns die within the first 28 days of life.

Many of these deaths could be prevented.

Unnecessary caesarean sections are rising at an alarming rate, without resulting in better health outcomes, and in some cases, causing long- and short-term complications. At the same time, obstetric violence continues to harm women during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

Around the world, sexual and reproductive rights are being rolled back. Women are being denied both the care they need and the power to make informed decisions about their bodies and futures.

But there is a solution: more midwives.

Midwives are educated and regulated professionals able to support the health and needs of women and gender diverse people. In fact, midwives can provide 90% of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services.

But right now, the world needs one million more midwives.

More midwives could reduce maternal deaths by providing skilled care during pregnancy and birth. More midwives could help prevent newborn deaths through timely care and essential support in those critical early days. More midwives could provide holistic, personalized, rights-based care which protects health, prevents harm and reduces unnecessary medical interventions. More midwives could prevent mistreatment and neglect during childbirth by promoting respectful, dignified treatment rooted in trust and personalised care. More midwives could protect and advance sexual and reproductive rights by ensuring access to contraception, safe abortion care, and informed choices.

To put it in numbers, one million more midwives could prevent 67% of maternal deaths, 64% of newborn deaths, and 65% of stillbirths — saving 4.3 million lives by 2035.

It’s time women’s health and survival become a top priority.

We are calling on governments and global health leaders to grow, support, and sustain the global midwifery workforce, because investing in midwives is investing in women’s health. To make that a reality, together we are urging them to:

• Invest in and recognise midwives as vital healthcare providers and implement policies that enable them to work to their full scope of practice, delivering safe, respectful care to women, newborns, and families.
• Equipping midwives with the education, skills, and resources they need to deliver high-quality care in well-resourced, supportive, and enabling environments.
• Investing in midwifery leadership to ensure midwives have influence over decisions that affect their work and communities, and the ability to collaborate equitably with other professionals to improve care for all.

Sign the petition and help us collect one million signatures to demand one million more midwives — and the investments needed to make it happen.

We’ll deliver your signature to high-level policymakers at the ICM Congress in Lisbon on 18 June 2026 and show them that the time to act is now.

After Congress, ICM will share country-level signature data and advocacy materials with our member associations, so they can take this call to action directly to their national leaders

We’re aiming to collect one million signatures — one for every midwife the world urgently needs.