World faces shortage of nearly one million midwives, global study finds
19 January 2026 — The world is facing a shortage of nearly one million midwives, leaving millions of women without access to essential care before, during and after pregnancy, according to new global research published this week.
The study estimates that 980,000 additional midwives are needed across 181 countries, which together account for 82% of the world’s women of reproductive age. The findings are based on the most comprehensive post-COVID analysis of the global midwifery workforce to date and assess how many midwives are required to meet population needs compared with how many are currently available.
Researchers warn that without urgent action, the gap will persist well into the next decade, undermining global efforts to reduce maternal and newborn deaths and improve the quality of care for women.
“This is not a future risk. It is a present reality,” said Anna af Ugglas, Chief Executive of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). “Nearly one million missing midwives means health systems are stretched beyond capacity, midwives are overworked and underpaid, and care becomes rushed and fragmented. Intervention rates rise, and women are more likely to experience poor-quality care or mistreatment. This is not only a workforce issue, it is a quality and safety issue for women and babies.”
Midwives are recognised as essential providers of care across the reproductive life course. Previous evidence shows that universal access to midwife-delivered care could prevent two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths, while even modest increases in coverage could save more than one million lives each year.
The new analysis highlights sharp regional inequalities. Africa accounts for nearly half of the global midwife shortage, despite being home to less than one-fifth of the world’s women of reproductive age. In this region, nine in ten women live in a country with a shortage of midwives. While recent investments mean the shortage has begun to narrow slightly over time, it remains the largest and most urgent globally.
Shortages are also severe in other parts of the world. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the study found that nearly seven out of every ten midwives needed are missing, while in the Americas, shortages represent more than 80% of the midwives required to meet population needs. Researchers say this means that, in many countries, the midwifery workforce would need to more than triple to provide adequate care.
“The shortage is not only about how many midwives are trained, but whether they are actually employed and deployed where women need them,” said Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, ICM’s Chief Midwife and former Chief Midwife for the national health service in England. “In many settings, midwives are educated but not absorbed into the workforce or not enabled to practise fully, compounding this already serious and universal shortage of midwives, and still leaving women without access to the care that midwives are trained to provide.”
While the greatest gaps are found in low- and middle-income countries, the study shows that midwife shortages exist in every region and income group, including high-income countries. Even in Europe, one of the world’s best-resourced regions, the study identified persistent midwife shortages in multiple countries, reflecting years of underinvestment, weak workforce planning and poor retention.
The study also warns that progress is too slow. Even with current training rates, the global shortage is projected to remain between 690,000 and 830,000 midwives by 2030, as population growth continues to outpace workforce expansion.
To overcome the global shortage, ICM is calling on governments to take urgent action to strengthen and sustain the midwifery workforce. These demands are set out in a global petition launched last year, which urges investment in midwives through fair pay, safe working conditions, professional recognition, leadership opportunities and deployment models that allow midwives to work to their full scope of practice.
“Training more midwives is essential, but it is only part of the solution,” af Ugglas said. “Governments must also invest in keeping midwives in the profession and enabling them to do the work they are trained to do. When midwifery is a respected and well-supported profession, more women are motivated to train and stay in the workforce. That is how countries improve health outcomes and build stronger, more sustainable health systems.”
The full study is published today in Women and Birth, and the petition is available at: https://millionmore.org/petition/
Key stats at a glance
- Global shortage: The most comprehensive estimate shows that nearly 1 million midwives are needed worldwide to meet population needs, while even the most modest estimate indicates a shortage of more than 700,000 midwives.
- Coverage: The research includes 181 countries, representing 82% of the world’s women of reproductive age.
- Why how countries classify midwives matters: If nurse-midwives provided 100% midwifery care, the global shortage would fall to around 930,000 midwives; if they provided no midwifery care, the shortage would rise to around 1.7 million midwives.
By region
- Africa: Home to around 19% of women of reproductive age, but around 46% of the global midwife shortage. About 9 in 10 women in the region live in a country with a midwife shortage.
- Eastern Mediterranean: Accounts for around 26% of the global shortage, despite being home to around 12% of women of reproductive age. The shortage represents around 69% of current need.
- Americas: Shortages represent around 85% of the midwives needed, the highest proportion of any region. The region would need almost 7 times more midwives to meet need.
- South East Asia: Home to around 28% of the world’s women of reproductive age, but only a small share of the global shortage under the most complete data scenario.
- Europe: Highest resource region, however, still accounts for a share of the global shortage, with shortages representing around a quarter of need in affected countries.
- Western Pacific: Estimated shortages are relatively small in absolute numbers, but still represent more than half of need in countries with shortages.
By income group
- Low- and middle-income countries: Account for more than 90% of the global midwife shortage.
- High-income countries: Home to up to one-fifth of women of reproductive age, but less than 10% of the global midwife shortage, showing that shortages are smaller but still present.
Impact and outlook
- Lives saved: Universal access to midwife-delivered care could prevent two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths.
- 2030 outlook: Even with current training trends, the global shortage is projected to remain at hundreds of thousands of midwives by 2030, as population growth outpaces workforce expansion.
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 envisions a world where every woman, newborn and adolescent has access to an autonomous and competent midwife’s care, and every midwife is enabled to provide equitable and rights-based sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health care.
Media contact
For any inquiry, or interview request please contact Ana Gutierrez, ICM Communications Lead.
Email: [email protected]
