Our webinar series on Midwife-Led Birthing Centres (MLBCs) began on 17 October, and every Tuesday since we’ve been exploring different aspects of MLBCs. If you haven't joined us yet, there's still time! 

Mark your calendars at 10h AM GMT on 21 November for the grand finale. The webinars have covered critical topics from quality and governance to financing, and now we're diving into "Scaling up this Model of Care." Featuring incredible speakers, these discussions promise to shape the growth of MLBCs globally. 

Please note, there will be no session on 14 November 14, so make sure you don't miss our last opportunity to connect and learn. If you've missed any of the previous sessions, you can catch up by watching the recordings online now. Please also check the time zone in your country, as some regions have begun switching from daylight savings to standard time and vice-versa. 

Whether you're a clinical midwife, a researcher, a manager, a policymaker, or simply someone passionate about maternal care, this series is for you. Join us and be part of the conversation. See you on 21 November 21 for the grand finale of the MLBC Webinar Series! 

The theme for this year’s World Prematurity Day on 17 November is small actions BIG IMPACT: immediate skin-to-skin care for every baby, everywhere. Midwives are key in ensuring that every baby has skin-to-skin care. 

For babies #BornTooSoon, those in need of immediate medical attention, or those with low birth-weight, kangaroo mother care (KMC) can be a life-saving practice. For parents and families, KMC allows them to become actively involved in the care of their baby. It is an intense and rewarding bonding experience. Whether in the hospital or at home, practicing KMC means putting the family’s needs first and organising care around them. 

Advocate for tiny heroes this November #WorldPrematurityDay2023 #KangarooMotherCare #KangarooCare 

We are happy to introduce a new, regular feature in the ICM newsletter, prepared by our RPCs, with insights, updates on their work and achievements. Each RPC will be featured over the course of a year.

The aim of ICM’s Regional Professional Committees (RPCs) is to strengthen the midwifery profession regionally and globally and in alignment with the ICM Professional Framework. The RPCs help to build positive working relationships and networks between midwife educators, midwife regulators, midwife researchers, emerging leaders, and midwives associations within regions.  

The first update is brought from the Western Pacific RPC (WP-RPC).

There will be no sexual and reproductive justice without midwives. Evidence of their positive impact is overwhelming. Universal access to midwives, for instance, is the most important factor in ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths. Yet health systems still marginalize and underinvest in them, leaving the world short by about 900,000 midwives. They make up less than 10 per cent of the global sexual and reproductive health workforce but provide 90 per cent of these services. In an almost entirely female profession, gender discrimination results in unequal pay, training opportunities and working conditions. 

More just treatment of midwives and their clients would come from creating more leadership positions for midwives, particularly in ministries of health, gender equality and finance. They must be able to lead and influence health-care policy choices that give midwifery the respect and professional position it deserves. This would improve health-care services and open options for decent work for women.” 

The first recommendation from the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Follow-up report is to invest in midwives. 

Every birth should be a moment of joy, but for countless families worldwide, what should be a happy time becomes a tragedy of loss through stillbirth. 

The Preventing and Addressing Stillbirths Along the Continuum of Care Guide is a comprehensive advocacy and implementation manual designed to tackle preventable stillbirths and enhance care for women and their families. This resource brings together existing global guidance and practical tools, uniting us in the fight to prevent stillbirths. 

One baby is born still every 17 seconds globally. Many of these losses could be prevented if access to high-quality pregnancy and childbirth care was equitable and timely. The Guide emphasizes the need to bridge existing gaps in resources and care. The Guide is intended for a wide audience, including policymakers, healthcare professionals, and advocacy groups.  

Midwives are very familiar with the Rho(D) immune globulin (RhIG), the medication used to prevent RhD isoimmunization in mothers. Have you ever wondered where it comes from? This month we are featuring an article by Kieran Froese, who explains her fascinating journey to become an anti-D donor.

New research from ICM’s MLBC project team, led by Oliva Bazirete et al., has been published in BMC Health Services Research. The paper shows that four things are critical for an MLBC to succeed: 

1. An effective financing model  

2. Quality midwifery care that is recognised by the community  

3. Interdisciplinary and interfacility collaboration, coordination, and functional referral systems 

4. Supportive and enabling leadership and governance at all levels 

Living on an island is a blessing and a curse. Accessing maternity and reproductive health services can be challenging. Midwives could bridge the gap and provide community-based care, but they need health systems to recognise and enable them to do so. 

On International Day of Rural Women, we passed the mic to journalist Dora Lozica from the K’o ?ena Women’s Collective on Kor?ula Island in Croatia who tells us about reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal services on the island.  

Missed our Midwifery Educator Knowledge Exchange webinar series? No worries! You can catch up on all the sessions, with audio recordings in English, Spanish, French and Arabic. 

Throughout the series, we explored crucial topics in midwifery education, from 'Strengthening Leadership & Policy to 'Monitoring, Evaluating, Reviewing, and Adjusting.' Our expert speakers shared valuable insights and strategies to shape the future of midwifery. 

To watch these engaging discussions, visit our YouTube channel. To keep up with new webinar recordings, click “subscribe” on ICM’s YouTube channel. 

100 Years of the International Confederation of Midwives: Empowering Midwives and Empowering Women describes the history of ICM beginning in 1922. The group of authors gives a unique her-story perspective that revolves around the first century of ICM’s organisational development, growth and influence, especially related to safe childbearing care and women’s reproductive health and rights. 

Stocks are running low - get your copy before they sell out. 

This month has been a difficult one, with humanitarian crises happening in many parts of the world. ICM is in contact with our midwives’ asociations (MAs) in all affected countries and is working to connect them with resources and donors who can help midwives do their vital work, even in the most challenging circumstances. As always, we stand with our fellow midwives and healthcare workers in calling for the protection of safe provision of maternity and reproductive health services.   

At the beginning of October, a series of devastating earthquakes hit Western Afghanistan, near the city of Herat. Thousands were reported injured, dead and displaced. ICM will continue to coordinate with Afghan Midwives’ Association to facilitate relationships and support with donors and international agencies. 

Also at the beginning of October, horrific attacks, followed by escalating violence erupted in Israel and Palestine. As a result, ICM published a statement calling for peace, followed by a commentary on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In addition, we echo the sentiments in the statement made by our partners at UNFPA that condemns the violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and re-amplify the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages by Hamas, and for unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and workers within Gaza.” 

In addition to these recent events, we are continuing our support for MAs after the earthquake in Morocco and the countries accepting refugees from Ukraine, and supporting the formation of a midwives’ association in Ukraine. 

In September, an ICM delegation visited the Bangladesh Midwifery Society (BMS), where we co-designed and facilitated a leadership and governance workshop for executive members of BMS. We also organised and co-facilitated a SMART Advocacy workshop to help BMS drive change, identify and advocate for key priorities for midwives and midwifery in Bangladesh. At the end of the SMART Advocacy workshop, participants had the opportunity to engage with the Director General, Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) Ms Maqsura Noor NDC in a question-and-answer session about improving the leadership, regulation, education, funding and policy environment for midwives and midwifery in Bangladesh. She pledged to support BMS and other stakeholders in advancing key issues for midwives and midwifery.