Existence of one or more midwife-led health units

This dataset identifies whether a country has one or more midwife-led health units—facilities where midwives are the primary providers responsible for maternity care. Midwife-led care is linked to improved maternal and newborn outcomes, reduced unnecessary interventions, and high levels of service satisfaction. The presence of such units reflects the health system's trust in midwives’ autonomy and supports accessible, respectful, and cost-effective care. These models are particularly impactful in low-resource settings, where midwife-led continuity of care improves equity and outcomes. Data Source: This dataset was collected by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and Novametrics. Data Dictionary: The data is collated with the following columns: Column heading Content of this column Possible values Ref Numerical counter for each row of data, for ease of identification 1+ Country Short name for the country 195 countries in total – all 194 WHO member states plus Palestine ISO3 Three-digit alphabetical codes International Standard ISO 3166-1 assigned by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). e.g. AFG (Afghanistan) ISO2 2 letter identifier code for the country e.g. AF (Afghanistan) ICM_region ICM Region for country AFR (Africa), AMR (Americas), EMR (Eastern Mediterranean), EUR (Europe), SEAR (South east Asia) or WPR (Western Pacific) Code Unique project code for each indicator: GGTXXnnn GG=data group e.g. OU for outcome T = N for novice or E for Expert XX = identifier number 00 to 30 nnn = identifier name eg mmr e.g. OUN01sba for Outcome Novice Indicator 01 skilled birth attendance Short_name Indicator name e.g. maternal mortality ratio Description Text description of the indicator to be used on website e.g. Maternal mortality ratio (maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) Value_type Describes the indicator type Numeric: decimal number Percentage: value between 0 & 100 Text: value from list of text options Y/N: yes or no Value_category Expect this to be ‘total’ for all indicators for Phase 1, but this could allow future disaggregation, e.g. male/female; urban/rural total Year The year that the indicator value was reported. For most indicators, we will only report if 2014 or more recent e.g. 2020 Latest_Value ‘LATEST’ if this is the most recent reported value for the indicator since 2014, otherwise ‘No’. Useful for indicators with time trend data. LATEST or NO Value Indicator value e.g. 99.8. NB Some indicators are calculated to several decimal places. We present the value to the number of decimal places that should be displayed on the Hub. Source For Caesarean birth rate [OUN13cbr] ONLY, this column indicates the source of the data, either OECD when reported, or UNICEF otherwise. OECD or UNICEF Target How does the latest value compare with Global guidelines / targets? meets target does not meet target meets global standard does not meet global standard Rank Global rank for indicator, i.e. the country with the best global score for this indicator will have rank = 1, next = 2, etc. This ranking is only appropriate for a few indicators, others will show ‘na’ 1-195 Rank out of The total number of countries who have reported a value for this indicator. Ranking scores will only go as high as this number. Up to 195 Trend If historic data is available, an indication of the change over time. If there is a global target, then the trend is either getting better, static or getting worse. For mmr [OUN04mmr] and nmr [OUN05nmr] the average annual rate of reduction (arr) between 2016 and latest value is used to determine the trend: arr <-1.0 = getting worse arr >=-1.0 AND <=1.0 = static arr >1.0 = getting better For other indicators, the trend is estimated by comparing the average of the last three years with the average ten years ago: decreasing if now < 95% 10 yrs ago increasing if now > 105% 10 yrs ago static otherwise increasing decreasing Or, if there is a global target: getting better, static, getting worse Notes Clarification comments, when necessary Longitude For use with mapping Latitude For use with mapping Date Date data uploaded to the Hub the following codes are also possible values: not reported does not apply don’t know This is one of many datasets featured on the Midwives’ Data Hub, a digital platform designed to strengthen midwifery and advocate for better maternal and newborn health services.