In Zanzibar, Tanzania, the role of a specialized midwife includes providing advice on contraceptives, in addition to prenatal and postnatal care.
Midwives like Sanura and Rukia have seen a recent uptake of the contraceptive implant as a popular form of contraception, which enables women to space out births more, reducing the health risks that come with back-to-back pregnancies.
UNFPA has invested in specialist midwifery and obstetric training in Tanzania. Globally, every two minutes a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth, yet the world is short of 900,000 midwives.
Midwives are essential in making childbirth safer, and their position must be recognised as a specialist, not a generalist, position.
“I am so proud when I see a mother deliver in comfort, feel healthy and feed her baby well,” says Rukia. “I love my job.”
[Pictured above] Batuli (foreground, right) and her relatives celebrate the arrival of her third healthy child in Tanzania. Batuli is one of 10 siblings, which is not unusual in Tanzania, where an average of 5 children are born per woman. © Sabiha Çimen/Magnum Photos for UNFPA