Advancing Safe & Respectful Midwifery Care Worldwide
GoodBirth is a global network of midwifery centers, midwifery center specialists, healthcare professionals, educators, and advocates working together to strengthen maternal healthcare systems by supporting midwifery centers through education, accreditation, and data collection.
Who We Are
A Global Community Strengthening Midwifery Care
Goodbirth Network was founded in 2015 through partnerships with midwifery centers in Haiti. Early collaboration revealed a fragmented system in which midwifery centers were working in isolation, often duplicating efforts without opportunities for shared learning or coordinated problem-solving.
By connecting centers, we saw the immediate value in peer support, collective learning, and shared solutions to common challenges.
What began as a small effort to build connection evolved into an online global community and open-access resource platform for midwifery centers in low-resource settings.
As interest grew beyond Haiti, annual convening and exchanges expanded into a broader international network.
Network Partners
Global Map
Connecting midwifery centers across continents through shared learning and visibility.
Mission
Strengthening and standardizing midwifery centers through accreditation, quality improvement, and capacity building.
Vision
A world where high-quality midwifery centers are integrated into healthcare systems and accessible to all communities.
What is a Midwifery Center?
A midwifery center (MC) is a health care facility which can provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for women, and newborn care. It is rooted in the midwifery philosophy and model of care, in a home like shared space, ensuring basic emergency maternal and neonatal level of care for all births. It is integrated within the health care system, aligning the level of care to optimal outcome, and responsive to needs of its community.
The Midwifery Model of Care
The midwifery model of care is recommended by the World Health Organization and UNFPA to reduce preventable maternal and neonatal deaths and morbidity, and improve outcomes and patient experiences.
The midwifery model of care is an approach to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care that centers on supporting normal physiological processes while providing skilled, respectful, and individualized care.
At its core, it views pregnancy and birth as normal life events—not primarily medical conditions—while ensuring that complications are recognized early and managed appropriately.
Its focus is on the woman, her values and involvement in a rights based, person focused care that is
The midwifery model of care and the medical model of care serve distinct but complementary roles within high-quality health systems. The midwifery model is designed to support normal physiological pregnancy and birth through continuous, respectful, and person-centered care, while the medical model focuses on the identification and management of complications.
Midwifery centers and midwifery model of care
Midwifery centers play a critical role in enabling the full expression of the midwifery model. By providing environments that prioritize continuity, autonomy, and appropriate use of interventions, they allow midwives to deliver high-quality care for normal birth while maintaining clear pathways for referral when needed. In contrast, hospital-based medical models are essential for managing complexity and emergencies.
Strong health systems integrate both approaches—ensuring that women receive the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.
{The midwifery model of care differs from the medical model in its foundational approach to pregnancy and birth. While the medical model is designed to manage risk and treat complications within a clinical framework, the midwifery model focuses on supporting normal physiological processes through continuous, respectful, and person-centered care. It emphasizes partnership with women, selective use of interventions, and a holistic view of health. These models are complementary: midwifery-led care is highly effective for normal pregnancies and births, while the medical model is essential for managing complications. Together, they form the basis of high-quality, integrated maternal health systems.}
Community Strengthening
Respectful Maternity
Care
Lower Intervention
Rates
Personalized
Support
Community
Accessibility
Evidence-Based
Practices
Family Centered
Care
What We Do
Advocacy & Education
GoodBirth advocates for the expansion and recognition of midwifery centers as midwifery-led models of care through education, accreditation, technical support, data collection, collaboration, and global awareness initiatives.
We support healthcare leaders, midwifery centers, and communities in advancing respectful maternity care and strengthening maternal healthcare systems.
GoodBirth strengthens maternal healthcare systems through operational standards, accreditation pathways, quality improvement initiatives, emergency preparedness, and benchmarking systems designed specifically for midwifery centers
Quality Standards
Developing and implementing accreditation processes to ensure consistent, high-quality care in midwifery centers. Strengthening data systems, and quality improvement initiatives for continuous quality improvement.
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Global Network
Midwifery Centers Around the World
GoodBirth supports and collaborates with birth centers across multiple continents, strengthening maternal healthcare systems through shared learning, accreditation, and community partnership.
The interactive map highlights:
Accredited Centers
Partner Organizations
Centers in Progress
Educational Collaborators
Join & Support GoodBirth
Become part of a growing international network of midwifery centers, educators, healthcare providers, and advocates.
Your support strengthens maternal healthcare systems, accreditation initiatives, education, and midwifery-led care globally.
Collaborate with GoodBirth through education, implementation, advocacy, research, or healthcare initiatives.
Ensuring educational resources and maternal healthcare tools remain accessible to diverse global communities.