In light of the International Confederations of Midwives’s 30^th Triennial Congress occurring this week, the Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI) takes a look at the 68 different programs profiled in our database that support the work of midwives worldwide. In addition to the concurrent release of the UNFPA’s “State of the World’s Midwifery” which reports on the need for midwives in 73 countries, the ICM congress has featured presentations from hundreds of experts in the field and is visited by over 3,500 delegates from around the world. The #ICMLive congress attracts attention to scientific research and international development organizations working to improve maternal health worldwide, just as CHMI works to attract attention to innovative health programs.

Midwife Programs by the Numbers

Of the 68 midwife and maternal health-focused programs profiled in the CHMI database:

• Three programs use “midwife kits” to provide the necessary sanitary tools to traditional birth attendants. In South Sudan the Wunlang Health Clinic Project provides Midwife Kits to train birth attendants on hygienic deliveries. The kits contain a towel, a washcloth, and a bedsheet for the mother in labor and soap, gloves, a razor, and umbilical cord ties for the midwife. Midwives receive a seven-day training session on proper kit use before returning to their villages. The project provided 400 kits to the Wunlang training facility in Februrary 2013

• Eleven Programs organize care delivery through a franchise system. The Well-Family Midwife Clinic operates in the Philippines to make quality maternal and child health care affordable and available. The franchise operates in 20 provinces and includes 132 outlets. Franchisee midwives are able to receive entrepreneurial training in financial and business services – the franchises are all for-profit.  Read more about franchise successes in the Philippines from our partners at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) in their Database at a glance

• Twelve Programs operate mobile clinics to enhance processes of care. In Afghanistan the program Holistic Health for Mother and Baby works to reduce maternal and newborn death and injury. Clinics provide medical treatment, health services and education. In addition to providing trainings for midwives and community health workers, Holistic Health also guides women through educational workshops to better prepare them for delivery. 94.7% of women in these “Expectant Mother Workshops” gave birth in a clinic or hospital, compared to the national average of 15%

These programs demonstrate some of the exciting innovations that health organizations are finding to improve healthcare for mothers and children. Read more about the innovations that 286 CHMI-profiled programs are using in Maternal Newborn and Child Health for issues including and beyond midwives. The CHMI 2013 MNCH Brief uses academic research to explore the evidence of these innovations with and learn what works.

About the Center for Health Market Innovations: The Center for Health Market Innovations offers free, up-to-date information about innovative nonprofit and social enterprises working to improve make good quality health care affordable and accessible in low- and middle-income countries. CHMI connects people implementing, funding, and studying programs to translate good practices and encourage innovative programs to scale.