Working in Conflict and Crisis Zones

Overview

 

Midwives safeguard the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and newborns, ensuring they receive respectful, life-saving care, especially amid conflict and instability. Midwives play a crucial role in delivering SRMNAH services in conflict and humanitarian crises, where standard healthcare infrastructures are often compromised or nonexistent. In conflict and crisis zones, midwives are more than caregivers – they are lifelines. Their presence ensures woman-centred care is not lost, but is protected and prioritized when it is most needed.

Key Risks and Challenges:
  • Insecurity and displacement affecting pregnant individuals
  • Limited access to medical supplies and emergency transport
  • Increased risk of gender-based violence and trauma
  • Lack of functioning health infrastructure
  • Disproportionate harm to women, adolescents, and gender-diverse individuals, who often face increased exposure to violence and lack of care.

Expert Resources

Accessing essential health services in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings

WHO supports access to essential health services in fragile and conflict-affected settings, focusing on maternal care, mental health, and emergency response.

Conflict and Health Journal

Conflict and Health is an open-access journal publishing research on how conflict, crises, and displacement affect public health – including maternal health, sexual and gender-based violence, mental health, infectious disease, and health systems – providing evidence to inform response and policy.

Delivering care in a conflict zone – by Medicins Sans Frontieres

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) delivers impartial, lifesaving medical care in conflict zones worldwide, addressing trauma, maternal health, and infectious diseases.

Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crisis

The Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG) is a global coalition advancing sexual and reproductive health in humanitarian settings. IAWG develops tools, conducts research, and advocates for quality healthcare during crises.

Enhancing quality midwifery care in humanitarian and fragile settings: a systematic review of interventions, support systems and enabling environments

This article reviews barriers and solutions to quality midwifery care in crises, highlighting safety, support, and systems needed to improve outcomes in fragile settings.

Providing support for aid workers – by Protect Aid Workers

Protect Aid Workers is a rapid-response initiative offering financial and legal support to humanitarian staff facing threats, injury, or detention due to their work. Grants up to €10,000 aid recovery and safety. The program prioritizes local and national aid workers in high-risk settings.

The role and scope of practice of midwives in humanitarian settings: a systematic review and content analysis

This systematic review identifies barriers and enablers to quality midwifery care in humanitarian settings, emphasizing the need for supportive systems to improve health outcomes.