Bangladesh just bet big on midwives: 25,000 new ones, and 5% of GDP for health

Bangladesh’s health minister announced the country will raise health spending to 5% of GDP and recruit 25,000 midwives into the public health system over the next few years — framing midwifery as a national investment to cut maternal and newborn deaths. The commitment came at a ministerial roundtable in Berlin, with South-South training partnerships including Nepal and Pakistan. For a country where a skilled attendant at birth can mean everything, 25,000 of them is a promise with a pulse.