Celebrating midwives on International Day of the Midwife

Did you know today is International Day of the Midwife? We're marking the work of midwives and the huge impact they have on women at a pivotal point in their lives

Each year, 5th March is the International Day of the Midwife. Here are five facts about midwives that you might not be aware of:

• Midwives provide care and support to pregnant women and their families, through pregnancy, birth and the early days with a newborn
• While midwives are a regular sighting on modern TV shows such as Call the Midwife and One Born Every Minute, did you know that the word midwife dates back as far as 1300? Midwifery is one of the oldest medical professions in the world and it's thought there were midwives before there were nurses or doctors
• The word midwife also means 'with women'
• While the French word for midwife is 'sage-femme' which translates as 'wise woman'
• There were over 21,000 midwives working in the UK in 2017

5th May is the International Day of the Midwife, where people around the world talk about the essential services midwives provide and raise awareness to try and ensure every woman and every newborn has timely access to the best possible care before, during and after pregnancy and child birth. The theme this year is of midwives as defenders of women's rights

To mark International Midwife Day and the wonderful work that midwives do, we've rounded up all our TalkMum posts about midwives:

• We spoke to blogging midwife Clemmie Hooper / Mother of Daughters about her new book and her number one tip for new mums
• After the Royal Collage of Midwives annual midwifery awards, we took a look at the Pregnacare Student Midwife of the Year
• If you're pregnant, our in-house midwife answered questions about labour and delivery, with advice on everything from high-risk pregnancies to pain relief and diet and exercise during pregnancy
• Find out out how midwives made an impact on me at a crucial time post-delivery when I needed help with breastfeeding
• For Chloe, the midwife who stands out is the one who went the extra mile
• Expecting twins and unsure about the care you'll receive? Fran wrote about antenatal care and midwife appointments when you're expecting twins
• Read our round-up of birth stories to see the role that midwives played in different types of deliveries
• Interested in becoming a midwife? Here's how you qualify to become a midwife.

If you're pregnant then make sure you read our advice on what to pack in your hospital bag and tips about getting prepared for labour.