Nurse Practitioner in Midwifery Program

Supporting the Government of India’s (GOI) Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery (NPM) program

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Nurse Practitioner in Midwifery (NPM) Programme

As part of implementing the Government of India’s Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery (NPM) programme in Karnataka, the National Midwifery Training Institute (NMTI) was established at Vanivilas Hospital, Bengaluru, in 2023. Today, Aastrika Foundation supports three State Midwifery Training Institutes (SMTIs), in addition to the NMTI, across Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Belagavi, advancing professional midwifery education and strengthening maternal healthcare.

NPM in Numbers

3745

ANC assessments by trainee midwives

1544

Births with RMC by trainee midwives

1463 95%

Births that had birth companions

1376 89%

Births in alternative positions

330 21%

Episiotomy rate by trainee midwives

Aastrika Foundation is supporting the Government of India’s (GOI)
Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery (NPM) program, launched in 2018.
The NPM program aims to build a cadre of professional midwives who can provide respectful, compassionate, high-quality, evidence-based, women-centric care, in a timely manner. The NPMs will practice at Midwifery Led Care Units (MLCUs) in high caseload health facilities across India.

It is envisioned that around 90,000 midwives will be trained and 8000 MLCUs will be set up in due course.

Our Role

Financial and technical assistance in managing and implementing the NMTI at Vanivilas hospital

The Program

Midwifery educators and midwives trained to international standards Cascade Training Model NMTIs and SMTIs across India

International Midwifery Educators (IMEs) will be training nurses at National Midwifery Training Institutes (NMTIs) to become midwifery educators

6 months of residential training at the NMTI + 12 months mentoring program at SMTIs across the states

The midwifery educators trained at the NMTI will train midwives at the State Midwifery Training Institutes (SMTIs)

12 months of theory and clinical practice under midwifery educators + 6 months of mentorship at the MLCUs (midwife-led care units).

The midwives will establish and practice at MLCUs

SMTIs will train midwives who will practice at MLCUs providing respectful, compassionate, high-quality, evidence-based, women-centric care, in a timely manner.

Our Partners

The third State Midwifery Training Institute (SMTI) in the state of Karnataka began in Belagavi in January 2025.

A learning event was organised to commemorate the first batch of Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery (NPM) completing 12 months of training at the State Midwifery Training Institute (SMTI), Mysore in November 2024

Aastrika team at the launch event of the Nurse Practitioner in Midwifery (NPM) Programme, in the state of Karnataka, along with the Department of Health, Government of Karnataka and UNICEF India, in Bengaluru. (2023)

State Midwifery Training Institute (SMTI) in Bangalore was launched in beginning of 2024

The first batch of Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery Educators (NPME) completes training at South India’s first government National Midwifery Training Institute (NMTI) - Vanivilas Hospital, Bengaluru. (2023)

Did you know?

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India (GOI), issued a press release in 2016 allowing birth companions for labouring women in public facilities