World is short of nearly a million midwives, report warns

A midwife checks a baby shortly after the birth. More than 90% of the shortage was in low- and middle-income countries. Photograph: Steve Glass/Getty Images/Cavan Images RF

A global shortage of nearly a million midwives is leaving pregnant women without the basic care needed to prevent harm, including the deaths of mothers and babies, according to new research.

Almost half the shortage was in Africa, where nine in 10 women lived in a country without enough midwives, the researchers said.