Midwives in Crises: Securing Maternal & Newborn Health in Humanitarian Settings

Midwives and health workers are on the frontlines supporting women and families confronted with conflict and crisis. They deliver care throughout the life course supporting births both inside and outside of clinical settings, providing services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and protecting the health, well-being, and rights of those in need. In crisis settings, the work of health workers is even more critical. Half of the 84 million forcibly displaced people worldwide (internally displaced and refugees) are women and girls.  Within conflict settings, women and girls have additional sexual and reproductive health needs due to increased vulnerability, greater risk of gender-based violence and experiencing sexual violence as an act of war, and higher likelihood of infectious and other diseases. To improve the life-saving care that midwives provide, particularly to women and girls in humanitarian contexts, international actors must recognize and support the essential role of midwives.

Please join the Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative and UNFPA, in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG) and White Ribbon Alliance, for a panel discussion on maternal and newborn health in humanitarian settings and the important role of midwives in these contexts. Panelists will share strategies to strengthen midwifery-led health care through targeted investment, training, and improved collaboration and referral pathways within the larger health in humanitarian settings context.

Please send questions for our panelists to mhi@wilsoncenter.org and follow the conversation on Twitter at @Wilson_MHI, and on Instagram at @MaternalHealthInitiative using the hashtag #MHDialogue. Find more coverage of these issues on our blog, NewSecurityBeat.org/Dot-Mom.