Understanding midwife-led birth centres in the Asia Pacific region

We’re researching midwifery-led birth centres in Fiji, Indonesia, Nepal and India.

Our work aims to:

support high-quality maternity care

strengthen midwifery leadership

improve health outcomes for mothers and babies across the region.

What is a midwife-led birth centre

A midwife-led birth centre (MLBC) is a healthcare facility where midwives provide safe, respectful and evidence-based care for mothers.

Midwife-led birth centres are an effective way to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. Seeing a trusted midwife through pregnancy and childbirth can support better health outcomes for both mothers and babies.

What we're doing

There's limited research about how midwife-led birth centres operate in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific region.

To address this, we're leading a project that explores these centres in Fiji, Indonesia, Nepal and India. We're looking at the factors that support or hinder their success.

Our study considers a range of factors like:

how women access services

referral pathways

service delivery and workforce models

financing and governance arrangements.

Our approach includes interviews, focus group discussions, and stakeholder engagement with partners in each country. We aim to develop practical evidence that informs policy and strengthens implementation support for midwifery-led care.