News & Insights: Blog
From ICM to Community Care: What One Million More Midwives Could Mean for Birth Workers and Families
Suzanne Wertman, MSN, CNM, FACNM
Senior Training and TA Associate
Reflections on ICM through the lens of what it highlighted about role community midwifery and midwifery-led model could play in addressing structural harm to birth workers and the prevalence of burn out and secondary trauma.
Key Findings
- 2.3 M newborns die within the first 28 days of life each year, and many of these deaths could be prevented.
- 90% of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services can be provided by midwives.
- 67% of maternal deaths, 64% of newborn deaths, and 65% of stillbirths could be prevented with one million more midwives.
- 4.3 M lives could be saved by 2035 by growing and sustaining the midwifery workforce.
Recently, members of the Community Birth and Doula Integration team traveled to Lisbon for the 34th International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Congress to meet and learn with other midwives from around the world. This meeting, which is held every three years, provides an opportunity for midwives and their professional associations to set standards, create and reaffirm statements on current challenges facing pregnant people, infants, and families, and network to share and learn about innovative solutions to problems faced globally.
Every two minutes, a woman dies from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications.
This year’s theme: One Million More Midwives. This theme was chosen based on data compiled by the United Nations in 2019 that estimated a worldwide need for 900,000 more midwives to provide every adolescent, every woman, every gender-diverse person, and every infant with the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health care to not just survive, but thrive. Since COVID, the need has only grown and become more urgent.
In the United States, we spend more on maternal and infant health than any other high-income nation and we do not see a return on that investment. Instead, we face a worsening crisis where it is more dangerous for pregnant people to give birth today than it was when their mothers gave birth to them.
ICM offered a powerful lens on the role community midwifery and midwifery-led models could play in addressing structural harm to birth workers, including burnout and secondary trauma.
Added to this crisis, there are record levels of burnout among midwives, nurses, ob-gyns, and doulas. Specially trained people who have spent many years and dollars on training, education and development are leaving at rates of up to 50% because of the stress and strain of the work without the necessary supports in place.
The system isn’t working well for anyone.
We know that these outcomes are due to factors beyond the walls of the clinic or hospital and require solutions that remove or prevent the impact of racism, sexism, classism and other systemic forces. The good news is we already know what works: with respectful person-centered care, coordinated networks, and systemic reforms we can save lives.
At ICM, we learned about innovative approaches to academic programs, clinical care delivery, and community-based care models. We listened and talked about how to create cultures where obstetric violence is a thing of the past, and indigenous midwifery is recognized and revered for its unique contributions to the profession today.