The European Union (EU) Directive on Minimum Professional Qualifications: Midwife is under review as part of an ongoing regulatory update. This revision presents a critical opportunity to modernise the regulation of midwifery education and practice across the EU and EEA, having implications that extend beyond the region, given the EU’s role in influencing professional regulation globally. We argue that updates to the Directive must be aligned with current scientific evidence, Global Standards for the profession, and relevant World Health Organization guidelines. Aligning the Directive with these evidence-based standards is essential to ensure high-quality care, enable midwives to practise to their full scope, support workforce mobility, and strengthen health systems across Europe.

The world has made progress in increasing the number of births attended by skilled health personnel (SHP), but maternal and neonatal mortality have not declined proportionately. This may indicate that quality of care has not risen at the same rate as SHP coverage. Several ‘Exemplar’ countries have been previously recognized for outstanding progress in improving maternal and newborn health, and offer a unique opportunity to understand coverage and quality of care provided by SHP. Here we describe quality of care and how it compares with SHP coverage in three Exemplar countries—Nepal, Senegal and Zambia. We developed a conceptual framework, compiled primary and secondary data, and employed latent variable analysis. We combined quality estimates with coverage estimates to quantify the effective coverage of SHP. Results show that effective SHP coverage ranges between 12% and 43% across subnational regions, compared with crude SHP coverage ranging from 30% to 100%, indicating that mothers and newborns are receiving less lifesaving care than coverage statistics portray. The detection of this quality gap in Exemplar settings, which represent some of the highest-performing health systems among low- and middle-income countries, emphasizes the criticality of quality care to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality worldwide. A study of Exemplar countries—Nepal, Senegal and Zambia—previously recognized for major gains in maternal and neonatal health found that, despite high coverage of childbirth care by skilled health personnel, the quality of care remains substandard.

Childbirth can be a profound and transformative experience, one that embodies complex emotional challenges. Childbirth experiences can have profound and lasting consequences, both positive and negative, shaping a woman's physical, emotional, and ...

Laerdal Global Health and the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) explore how simulation-based education, continuing professional development, and strategic partnerships can strengthen the global midwifery workforce and improve maternal and newborn health outcomes.

More women are discovering the benefits of midwives for care that goes beyond pregnancy — from gynecological visits to menopause support.