Dear colleagues,
As midwives in Denmark, Finland, The Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and members of the Nordic federation of Midwives (NJF), we wish to address you in the light of the escalating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Since October 2023, the collapse of the health system following systematic attacks on civilians, hospitals, midwives and other healthcare personnel has left mothers, newborns, and vulnerable populations in unbearable conditions without access to basic, life‑saving care.
Pregnant women and infants are at utterly urgent risk. Most maternity settings and hospitals have been destroyed or closed, miscarriages and premature births are increasing, and critical shortages of food, medicines, and clean water mean that women and girls are denied safe care and even the most basic hygiene. For women and girls, the risks of sexual violence, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections have also risen significantly in this crisis setting. In these desperate circumstances, midwives in Gaza continue their essential work under constant threat of violence, displacement, and a lack of the most fundamental resources.
We, the member states in NJF, are deeply concerned and united in our response. Together, we call on our governments and the wider international community to:
- Demand a permanent ceasefire and implementation of a long-term peace plan
- Protect midwives, health care personnel, women and newborn, and facilities in line with international humanitarian law.
- Ensure safe and reliable humanitarian corridors for medicines, equipment, and relief supplies.
- Guaranteeing access to reproductive, perinatal and sexual, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services.
- Support the rebuilding of Gaza’s shattered healthcare system.
Dear members, we know that you stand with us in upholding the values of our profession. Midwives stand for life, dignity, and human rights, regardless of borders or politics. By joining our voices together under the banner of NJF, we strengthen the call for immediate action to protect women, newborns, families, and the colleagues who care for them in the most dangerous of circumstances.
In solidarity,
Li Thies-Lagergren, President
The Nordic Federation of Midwives (NJF)
Päivi Oinonen, President
Suomen Kätilöliitto – Finlands Barnmorskeförbund ry, The Federation of Finnish Midwives
