Abstract
Most low- and middle-income countries failed to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets for maternal, newborn and child health, and even more ambitious targets have been set under the Sustainable Development Goals and the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality initiative. This means that many countries will need to accelerate progress on sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn health over the next few years. Recent years have seen the publication of a large and convincing body of evidence about the potential of midwifery to make a significant contribution to this acceleration, but little practical guidance has emerged to help countries invest in midwifery services so that their health systems can meet the increasing need for sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn health care. To help fill this gap, the International Confederation of Midwives designed and launched the Midwifery Services Framework, a new tool to guide countries through the process of strengthening and developing their midwifery services. This first of a series of three papers introduces the MSF, explains why it is needed, how it was developed, its guiding principles and its anticipated outcomes and impact. The other two papers explain the process of implementing the Midwifery Services Framework, and lessons learned in the first countries to start implementation.