One Million More Midwives: Global Petition Calls for Urgent Action 

The Hague, 14 October 2025 – The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), in partnership with the PUSH campaign, today launched One Million More Midwives — a global petition calling on governments and health leaders to grow, support, and sustain the midwifery workforce. 

The petition responds to an urgent global shortage of midwives and aims to gather at least one million signatures by June 2026, when the petition will be handed to global leaders at the 34th ICM Triennial Congress in Lisbon, the largest global convening of midwives and partners.

Every two minutes, a woman dies from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth. Every 17 seconds, a baby is lost before birth. Each year, 2.3 million newborns die within the first 28 days of life. Caesarean birth rates are soaring to nearly 30% worldwide, often without improving outcomes. Obstetric violence and unmet family planning needs continue to harm women’s health and rights. 

“Midwives are the solution,” said Anna af Ugglas, ICM’s Chief Executive. “They save lives, protect rights, and provide quality care for women and newborns. Yet the world is one million midwives short. With one million more, we could prevent 67% of maternal deaths, 64% of newborn deaths, and 65% of stillbirths by 2035 — saving more than 4.3 million lives by 2035.” 

Upcoming research, expected to be published by the end of 2025, shows that after the pandemic, the global health workforce is short one million midwives needed to meet the world’s sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn health needs. 

The campaign will build momentum through multiple global advocacy moments, with a peak on International Day of the Midwife 2026 (IDM2026), which will also carry the theme One Million More Midwives. After Congress, the campaign will continue in-country, with ICM providing its national midwives’ associations with country-level petition data and tailored advocacy tools to press their governments for action. 

Organisations, media outlets, influencers and community leaders are invited to endorse the campaign and amplify the call.

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About ICM 

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) is the global voice for midwives, representing more than 135 midwives’ associations across over 115 countries. ICM works to strengthen midwives’ associations and advance the profession worldwide by promoting autonomous midwives as the most appropriate caregivers for childbearing women. 

About PUSH 

PUSH is ICM’s global advocacy campaign, championing woman-centred care and uniting people and partners to demand greater political will, visibility, and investment in midwives. 

Media contact:

Ana Gutierrez, ICM Communications Lead  

Email: [email protected] 

Website: www.millionmore.org