Help for mothers

Midwives in the global fight for safe births

Midwives ensure safe births. But there is a global shortage of 900,000 midwives.

(Bild: CARE/SABA KAREEM)

Midwives help and support women in absolutely exceptional situations and accompany them not only during, but also before and after birth. They turn women into mothers. If complications arise, the midwives do everything they can to save mother and child. However, there is a shortage of 900,000 midwives worldwide.

Safe childbirth is a human right, but this is not always guaranteed. Every day, more than 800 women die worldwide due to complications that occur during or before childbirth. Midwives play a key role in ensuring safe births, but they are not available everywhere. 

One aid organization that is addressing this important issue is CARE. They are committed to the rights of women and girls globally, which includes protecting mothers and their babies and supporting midwives. The donations enable valuable work to be carried out: Training midwives, running mother and child centers, enabling safe births, educating about women's rights, family planning and contraception.

Diyana Joki ensures safe births in Iraq.

(Bild: CARE Deutschland/ Saba Kareem)

Diyana Joki from Iraq is one of the CARE midwives. In 2014, she and her family, along with thousands of others, fled from Sinjar in northern Iraq. There she witnessed a tragic birth in which the newborn died and the mother barely survived. This event prompted Diyana to take up the profession of midwife.

To this day, the midwife lives in a refugee home and has to walk three hours to her job. There is a lack of medical equipment in the hospital. "Ideally, births should take place on Sundays or Mondays when an emergency doctor is present," she advises.

In addition to her role as a midwife, Diyana also acts as an educator. She conducts family planning training and provides information on contraceptive methods to empower women. Despite the challenging circumstances, her aim is to give women in Sinjar a sense of security during childbirth, one of their most vulnerable moments.

Munguci Hope Mercy works as a birth attendant in Uganda.

(Bild: CARE Deutschland/ Nyokabi Kahura)

Munguci Hope Mercy from Uganda proves that role models are important: "As a child, I lived next to a health center. There was a great midwife working there. I admired her and I became a midwife because of her." She has been working in the "Rhino Camp" refugee settlement for three years. Alongside Ugandan women, it is mainly refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and South Sudan who live there.

Chiev Sreytoch provides information about child planning in Cambodia.

(Bild: CARE/Saobora NARIN)

Midwives are not only obstetricians, but also educate women about child planning. "Before I started, many women refused to use contraceptives. Misinformation was widespread. Thanks to my work, unplanned pregnancies have fallen sharply," says Chiev Sreytoch. She has been working as a midwife at the Talav Health Center in the province of Ratanak Kiri in Cambodia for three years. She provides obstetric care, follow-up care, makes home visits by motorcycle and conducts health training.

Indigenous women have little access to medicine
Other challenges: "One problem for many women is the lack of specific health services. It is particularly difficult for indigenous women to find medical care. Due to language barriers, they often don't know where to go and are afraid of stigmatization or rejection."

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These three examples show that midwives are not only birth attendants, but also counselors, educators and sometimes the only medical support available to women in some of the most remote and conflict-ridden regions of the world. Despite the challenges they face, including lack of resources, difficult working conditions and often personal risk, they work tirelessly to protect and improve the lives of mothers and their children.