Pregnancy and childbirth do not stop in times of crisis, and neither should access to high-quality, lifesaving care. While many maternal and newborn deaths can be prevented with proven interventions, the challenge is ensuring they reach the people who need them most. This is especially difficult in humanitarian settings, where health systems are disrupted, essential medicines and supplies become harder to access, and shortages of trained health workers can leave women and newborns without the services they need.

Our approach

Across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) works with communities, health workers, governments, and partners to deliver and strengthen essential MNH services. From pregnancy and childbirth through postpartum and newborn care, we work to ensure access to high-quality care as crises evolve from emergency response through recovery and longer-term development.

Our approach spans five interconnected areas: emergency response, program implementation, research and innovation, impact at scale, and advocacy and partnerships. Across each, we are guided by a feminist approach, a commitment to shifting power, and an emphasis on holistic care that recognizes the interconnected needs of mothers and newborns.

What we do

Respond to emergencies

MNH is a core part of the IRC’s emergency health response. Within days of an emergency, we design responses to deliver the Minimum Initial Service Package in Crisis Situations (MISP), prioritizing life-saving services including Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC).  As crises evolve, we expand and strengthen services and work with governments and civil society to rebuild health systems and support longer-term access to quality care. 

As co-lead of the Global Health Cluster’s SRH Task Team, IRC supported process evaluations of MISP implementation in recent emergency responses in Chad, Ethiopia, Gaza, and Mozambique.  The findings help identify lessons and recommendations to strengthen the consistency, quality, and accountability of MISP implementation in future humanitarian responses. 

Learn more about the MISP Process Evaluation.

Provide comprehensive MNH care in protracted crises

The IRC works to improve the quality and continuity of care throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum and postnatal periods, at every level of the health system from communities and primary health facilities to hospitals and referral care. We deliver context-appropriate services through IRC-run and -supported health facilities and mobile clinics, while working with Ministries of Health, local authorities, UN agencies, and other humanitarian partners to strengthen the systems that make quality care possible. This includes building health worker capacity, strengthening supportive supervision and quality assurance, improving referral pathways, and using data to identify and address gaps in care.

Our MNH work is grounded in the broader continuum of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We take a holistic approach to care that recognizes the interconnected needs of women and newborns and links MNH with nutrition, infection prevention and WASH, and maternal mental health and wellbeing and other reproductive healthcare services.

Featured partnership: Strengthening midwifery in crisis

The IRC and International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) have launched a five-year strategic partnership to strengthen the role, capacity and support of midwives in humanitarian and fragile settings. Together, we are working to strengthen quality and respectful care, expand access to community-based midwifery, strengthen education and preparedness, and ensure midwives can work to their full scope of practice in emergencies. 

Learn more about the IRC–ICM partnership.

Generate evidence, test approaches

The IRC generates evidence to improve MNH in humanitarian settings, where needs are greatest but populations remain underrepresented in global research. We focus on practical questions about how lifesaving care can be delivered and sustained in crisis—from community-based care and referral pathways to quality of care, mortality surveillance, and the health systems and workforce needed to support them.

Featured partnership: EQUAL Research Consortium

From 2021–2026, the IRC led the EQUAL Research Consortium with partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, and South Sudan. EQUAL generated evidence on community-based maternal and newborn care, quality and experience of facility care, maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response, the midwifery workforce, and the health-system and governance factors that shape access to quality care. Its evidence, tools, and resources continue to inform programs, policy and research across the humanitarian MNH sector. 

Learn more about the EQUAL research consortium.

Featured partnership: Understanding referral pathways

IRC research in the Central African Republic and northeast Nigeria examined women’s and providers’ experiences of referral from basic to comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care, identifying practical opportunities to strengthen referral systems in humanitarian settings. [Explore the research]

Drive impact at scale 

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) was selected as a top priority for IRC’s Impact at Scale agenda, reflecting both its significant contribution to maternal mortality and the availability of proven interventions to prevent, detect, and treat it. Across Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, IRC is working to move these interventions beyond individual projects and support wider, sustained delivery at both facility and community levels. This includes addressing the conditions needed for effective PPH care in humanitarian settings, from reliable commodities and trained health workers to supportive policies, financing, health systems, and delivery approaches that reflect the realities of crisis-affected contexts.

Featured partnership: Safer Births in Crises

Safer Births in Crises is a flagship program for IRC’s work to strengthen PPH prevention, detection and treatment in humanitarian settings. Through the initiative, IRC leads a consortium with International Medical Corps, Jhpiego and UNFPA to strengthen access to and delivery of proven PPH interventions in crisis-affected settings. Working with Ministries of Health and other partners, we are supporting context-appropriate uterotonics and the WHO-recommended E-MOTIVE approach, alongside commodity availability, competency-based training, clinical mentorship, supportive supervision and data use for quality improvement.  The work is designed to generate learning that extends beyond individual project sites, including what it takes to address policy, provider practice, commodity and health-system barriers and support effective PPH care to be sustained and delivered at greater scale.

Advocate and partner for change

The IRC works to ensure the needs of women and newborns affected by crisis are reflected in the policies, investments and decisions that shape maternal and newborn health. We bring evidence and experience from humanitarian settings into national and global decision-making, advocating for greater investment in MNH, stronger accountability, and policies and guidance that make proven interventions more accessible in crisis-affected settings.

We also build partnerships to move evidence into action. Working with Ministries of Health, UN, local organizations, researchers, donors and humanitarian actors, we bring together the expertise, influence and resources needed to address barriers that no single organization can tackle alone. The IRC also contributes to global platforms including the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG) and the Global Health Cluster’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Task Team.

Available documents and resources

Available documents & links