A new global partnership aims to develop a tool for midwives supporting mothers and newborns amid heat waves, droughts, floods, and fire

Midwives around the world will soon have a new tool intended to protect mothers and newborns from the effects of extreme weather events — and it can live on their smartphones or tablets. 

Housed within a free app, the "Climate-Wise Maternal and Newborn Care" module is set to provide midwives with evidence-based guidance as they navigate climate risks in the field.

"It helps build understanding of how both sudden climate shocks and ongoing environmental pressures affect pregnancy, birth, postnatal care, and newborn outcomes, including risks linked to extreme heat, food insecurity, displacement, and infectious disease outbreaks," the International Confederation of Midwives and Maternity Foundation told CG in a jointly prepared response via email.

Developed by ICM and Maternity Foundation, with funding from Direct Relief, the module will join other resources available on the Safe Delivery app, Maternity Foundation's evidence-based tool. The partnership aims to better prepare midwives caring for pregnant people, postpartum people, and infants in settings increasingly beset by heat waves, droughts, floods, and wildfires.

Each of these events can pose unique threats to maternal health and pregnancy outcomes. 

"Midwives may need to support families facing heat-related complications in pregnancy, malnutrition, dehydration, or the spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases," ICM and  Maternity Foundation told CG.

Extreme weather can also disrupt supply chains, access to health facilities, and power grids. Mindful of power and communications outages, the developers have ensured that the app can function offline once it is downloaded. 

Midwives are regularly called upon in these challenging situations, providing resources and care locally when, for instance, flooded roadways prevent further travel — and often working while they themselves are displaced. Yet, midwives are not regularly included in emergency planning and formal response systems.

"The module also emphasizes the critical role of midwives as frontline responders in climate-affected communities, equipping them to adapt care and ensure continuity in rapidly changing conditions," the organizations said in a statement crafted by their Climate and Humanitarian Taskforce. 

Neha Mankani of ICM helps to lead such efforts as the organization's Humanitarian Engagement and Climate Advisor. She was named to 2025's TIME100, a list of some of the world's most influential people, in part for her work involving solar-powered clinics in Pakistan.

The partnered groups also highlighted the role that midwives are playing in addressing sexual- and gender-based violence, the risks for which are exacerbated by climate shocks.

"Midwives are often the professionals responsible for providing initial support and care to survivors, underlining the importance of readiness to handle these situations."

The Climate-Wise Care module is set to be available in the English and the Filipino national versions of the Safe Delivery app by the end of 2026 or early in 2027. As ICM and Maternity Foundation both noted, expansion into further languages should be possible with the availability of additional resources.

Kirsten Krueger contributed to the editing of this article.