100 Years of Progress: Happy #IDM2022!

On midwifery’s special day, we commend each and every one of you, who contribute to our growing, global community of midwives and the advancement of midwifery worldwide. We see your passion and dedication in the marches you lead, the demands you make and the women and new-borns you support and protect. 

Today, we hope our Advocacy and Resources Toolkit will provide you with the resources to carry forward your most important advocacy work. Its messaging and graphics have been developed with our community’s best interest and most pressing challenges in mind. But while it’s important that we leverage midwifery’s special day to amplify our life-promoting work and the causes we champion, it’s equally as essential to reserve time to celebrate– with colleagues, women and the entire profession. So, enjoy the day—we deserve it. 

Happy #IDM2022!

Today at our Virtual Parties for the International Day of the Midwife, ICM premiered a new, animated short film that imagines a world where midwives have received the investments they deserve. What would the future look like if midwives had: 

• Equal, fair compensation 

• Fair working conditions and protections 

• Standardised regulation & education frameworks 

Find out by watching the video clip above!

ICM launches new charity, WithWomen

After more than two years of planning, ICM is thrilled to announce a partnership with the newly launched WithWomen charity. WithWomen will raise vital funds towards elevating the practice of midwifery and improving the birth experience for women and birthing people everywhere. WithWomen is the first global fundraising platform providing individual donors with the opportunity to directly support the life-enhancing, life-saving work of ICM and its more than 140 midwives’ associations. 
 
The funds raised by WithWomen will be used towards:  

•  Strengthening the capacity of ICM midwives’ associations 

• Strengthening education of midwives around the world 

• Providing direct, financial support to member associations in need, particularly those impacted by climate and/or humanitarian crisis. 

WithWomen’s launch comes at a period of rapid growth and demand for ICM’s work, where funding is vital for its ability to continue supporting and advancing midwifery and its member associations.

Midwives have spoken. Will the world listen and act?

In the White Ribbon Alliance’s 2018 #WhatWomenWant campaign, women and girls around the globe voiced their demands for increased, more competent, and better-supported midwives as one of their top demands for quality reproductive and maternal healthcare. 

The What Women Want: Midwives’ Voices, Midwives’ Demands campaign, led by White Ribbon Alliance in collaboration with ICM, is a key companion to the #WhatWomenWant campaign. The request for more midwives and nurses was one of the highest requests by women and girls. 

Now, over 56,000 midwives from around the world have raised their voices and shared their demands. In celebration of #IDM2022, find out what midwives want – and what you can do to support them! 

Explore the Midwives’ Voices, Midwives’ Demands Dashboard to explore actual responses from the over 56,000 midwives, globally. 

Are you a midwife? There is still time to have your demands heard! Midwives’ Voices, Midwives’ Demands is a continuous campaign, and your demand can still be added to Interactive Dashboard and used to support ongoing advocacy efforts in countries across the world. 

Interested in having your voice heard? Add +1 202 951 7799 as a contact on WhatsApp and send "hi" to take part in the Midwives' Voices campaign, OR: 

Looking back on #MidwifeMemories with our Board Members #ICM100

For those of you who weren't able to attend our Virtual Parties for the International Day of the midwife today, here's a clip of what you missed. We're celebrating #IDM2022 and #ICM100 by looking back on some of our favourite memories. Here are career highlights from our Board Members all over the world.

Happy #IDM2022!

An exclusive interview with the authors of '100 Years of the International Confederation of Midwives: Empowering Midwives and Empowering Women"

Joyce Thompson, Joan Walker, Ann Thomson and Margaret Peters may come from different corners of the world but their careers as midwives and their interest in the history of midwifery has inspired their collective effort to document ICM’s global impact over the past 100 years. The four women are the authors of ‘100 Years of the International Confederation of Midwives: Empowering Midwives and Empowering Women’.  

The new book, which will be published later this year in celebration of ICM’s centennial, is a brief narrative history of the ICM beginning in 1922. Through personalised stories and extensive research, It highlights ICM’s efforts to strengthen and support its Member Associations in order to protect and promote healthy babies and empower midwives and women. This is the first and only account of ICM’s 100-year history. 

We spoke with the authors about their motivations for writing the book, their own midwifery careers and why ICM’s history is important to unpack as we aim to understand where midwifery is headed.