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We Put Midwives on the ICFP2025 Agenda
The PUSH Campaign joined the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Bogotá, to make one thing clear: midwives are essential to achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Through a week of high-impact events, speaking engagements, art installations, and advocacy actions, midwives were made visible as vital partners in advancing the family planning agenda—beyond their traditional portrayal as “baby catchers”.
The week began at the youth pre-conference with a session on Art4Advocacy, where through art we portrayed the multifaceted role midwives play in youth and women’s health. Four young leaders and artists from around the world painted a live mural celebrating midwives as champions of woman-centred care and advocates for women and young people in all their diversity. We joined them on a panel to discuss how we use artivism in our advocacy and communications, particularly through the designs and calls to action around our global petition one million more midwives.
Participants learned about the shortage of one million midwives and the need for affirming and respectful SRHR for all. Inspired by the live-painted mural, youth delegates co-created poems, flyers, and drawings about why they are PUSHing for their SRHR and midwives as part of the solution. Delegates took the PUSH pledge, signed the petition for one million more midwives, and shared commitments to invest in and advocate for midwives globally. This creative action set the tone for a week of connection, collaboration, and conversation.
On the second day of pre-conferences, we joined discussions on The Intersection of Climate, Crisis, and SRHR highlighting midwives’ unique roles in delivering care in humanitarian and environmental challenges.
Momentum built on Tuesday, the first official conference day, our side event was at 6:30 am—we had a fully-packed room, doubling its capacity, for the Unlocking Impact: Midwives as the Key high-level breakfast and launch. We launched a new evidence brief showcasing midwives’ contributions to growing the economy, improving health, advancing gender equality, and building climate resilience.
The power of PUSH campaign is its convening power of partners, donors, decision-makers, researchers, practitioners, and advocates; this event highlighted the perspectives of a dozen global leaders across two powerful panels.
Panel 1, “Midwives mean business: Advancing women’s work, wealth, voice and power,” discussed how midwives unlock impact on economic growth and gender equality with reflections from Women Deliver, Engender Health, FCDO, and Gates Foundation.
Panel 2, “Midwives at the Core: Respectful, Lifesaving Care from Clinics to Crises,” discussed how midwives unlock impact on health equity and universal health coverage along with climate resilience, with reflections from FP2030, Safe Delivery Safe Mother, Direct Relief and UNFPA.
The day continued with vibrant engagements—we took the main stage at the plenary asking a hot-topic question during Ignite Night: Where Are the Midwives at ICFP?, we appeared live on Sex O’Clock News to promote the PUSH campaign and the petition for One Million More Midwives, and featured in multiple spotlight and youth-led sessions throughout the week. We celebrated in solidarity and joined the launch of Libera a global south feminist collective for dignity, rights, and respectful SRHR for all.
Throughout the week, we showed up in interactive spaces to talk with SRHR and family planning (FP) advocates about how they see midwives advancing the agenda. We had multiple sessions at the ICFP Youth Lounge including a StoryBooth to mobilize support for One Million More Midwives and afilm screening of “Neha: A Midwife’s Courage and Care during the Pakistan Floods” which offered a powerful reminder that midwives are first responders, health educators, and advocates for women’s rights—even in the most fragile settings.
The following day, we co-hosted an expert consultation on building feminist health systems, diagnosing, visioning, investing, and holding leaders accountable to deliver woman-centred care. Midwives were featured on the LIVE Stage during the Besties’ Briefing to break the myth about midwives and highlight ICM’s commitment to advancing the FP and SRHR agenda, as a core part of the essential competencies. We also took the plenary stage joining the partners Spotlight Session Stronger Together: Global Moments & Movements United for Maximum Impact where we shared the need for movements like the PUSH campaign which unite around centering women and honoring their autonomy, voice, and rights within health systems. We were excited to share the stage with ICFP Gates Institute, POPCOM-Metro Manila, FP2030, Women Deliver, FIGO, WHO, Global Health Vision, and World Association for Sexual Health (WAS).
These events were not just moments of visibility; they were strategic acts of advocacy. These engagements build partnerships, strengthen alliances with the broader SRHR and family planning community, and ensure that the midwifery voice informs decisions about funding, policy, and program design. Visibility translates into influence—and influence drives systemic change.
For too long, midwives have been narrowly perceived as providers of maternal care alone, rather than as skilled health professionals delivering the full spectrum of SRHR services—including family planning, safe abortion care, and counseling across the life course. By showing up and speaking out in global forums like ICFP, PUSH and ICM are challenging these outdated narratives and positioning midwives where they belong—at the center of health systems and policy discussions.
Engagement in spaces such as ICFP is crucial. We used this opportunity to meet with more than a dozen partners to explore synergies among our work and expand our advocacy. We also connected with current PUSH Champions and almost all the midwives attending the conference.
At ICFP 2025, PUSH and ICM not only made midwives visible—they made them indispensable to the global FP and SRHR movement.
Join the PUSH Campaign to be part of this growing global movement advocating for woman-centred care, stronger health systems, and greater investment in midwives.
Download the Evidence Brief to learn how midwives deliver transformative impact—and how you can take action to support one million more midwives worldwide.
