Luc de Bernis Midwifery Award recognised midwives working in challenging settings

At the closing ceremony of the 34th ICM Triennial Congress in Lisbon, two midwives received the Luc de Bernis Midwifery Award, which recognised midwives providing quality care in some of the world’s most challenging settings. 

The award honoured the life and work of the late Dr Luc de Bernis, whose career was dedicated to improving access to quality care for women, newborns and families, especially in countries and communities facing the greatest barriers to health services. 

Dr de Bernis was a strong supporter of midwives and midwifery. He understood that in many settings, midwives were often the only available health professional for women and newborns. He believed that midwives, working with women and in collaboration with other health professionals, were central to reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. 

In recognition of his support and advocacy for midwifery, Dr de Bernis’ friends and former colleagues worked with ICM to launch the De Bernis Midwifery Award. The award celebrated midwives whose work reflected the principles and values he promoted throughout his career: quality care, equity, collaboration and commitment to women and newborns. 

This year, the award was presented to two midwives attending the 34th ICM Triennial Congress who had accepted poster presentations and whose work focused on midwifery practice in countries affected by conflict or humanitarian crises. 

The 2026 award recipients were Rose Cardelle Riche from Haiti and Aimée Olenga from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Rose Cardelle Riche is a certified midwife with a Master of Public Health degree. She provides high-quality care to adolescents living with HIV at GHESKIO’s Adolescent HIV Clinic in Haiti. Her poster, Adolescent Mothers Clubs: Community cohort care to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in Haiti, focused on community-based care for adolescent mothers and their babies. 

Aimée Olenga is a midwife practitioner at Kintambo maternity hospital in Kinshasa. She contributes to the training of future midwives and supports comprehensive and respectful post-abortion care through the IPAS Programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her poster, Postabortion care in humanitarian settings: The critical role of midwives in Eastern DRC, focused on the role of midwives in protecting access to care during humanitarian crises. 

Through this award, ICM and Dr de Bernis’ colleagues and friends honoured two midwives whose work continues his legacy and supports better care for women, newborns and communities.