Strengthening the integration of midwifery in health systems in South Asia: A leader-to-leader collaboration between Sweden, India and Nepal

This leader-to-leader collaboration supports leaders and specialists in midwifery in India and Nepal to identify windows of opportunities for successful integration of midwives into existing health systems.

The overall aim is to apply a framework on midwifery in two countries to yield context specific considerations to inform important health system changes by identifying drivers to facilitate the integration of midwifery in health systems with India, and Nepal as example in South Asia.

The research will contextualize the research findings of a health systems framework into how to integrate and utilize midwives and midwife leaders to their full potential more broadly to the South Asia region.The pathways to impact of this leader-to-leader collaboration will be a joint application for research funds submitted 2024.

Suggested activities will provide added value for midwifery leaders/specialists from India and Nepal through dialogues, workshops and conference together with Swedish co-researchers.

A steering group of midwifery leaders/specialitsts will be responsible for activities and the development of joint research and ethical applications for next phase. We anticipate midwifery in South Asia can be scaled up with the use of the contextualized guiding framework.

Long-term, women and newborns in all South Asian countries could get their birthing experience transformed towards normal physiological birth provided by international standard midwives in an enabling environment.