Why This Work Matters
The Problem
In Iraq and other conflict-affected regions, most births take place in healthcare facilities and are attended by trained providers.
Yet maternal and newborn deaths remain unacceptably high due to quality of care at the bedside.
21 newborn deaths per 1,000 births
66 maternal deaths per 100,000 births
Decades of conflict and underinvestment have weakened the health system.
Many facilities lack resources. Skilled providers have left.
Those who remain—often nurses and midwives—are asked to manage life-threatening complications without the training or support they need.
The Insight
Improving outcomes requires more than expanding access.
It requires improving how care is delivered in critical moments.
When emergencies happen, training—not equipment—is often the deciding factor.
Simulation-based training changes this.
Providers can:
practice high-risk, low-frequency emergencies
build rapid decision-making skills
strengthen teamwork under pressure
This approach—used in aviation and emergency medicine—has been shown to reduce errors and improve outcomes.
Better-trained providers deliver safer care—and stronger health systems follow.
The Solution
The Nursing and Midwifery Development Centre (NMDC) was built to close this gap.
A 36,000 sq ft training facility in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with 11 high-fidelity simulation labs.
Here, nurses and midwives train using lifelike simulators that:
breathe, bleed, and respond to treatment
replicate real emergencies like hemorrhage and neonatal distress
allow repeated practice in a zero-risk environment
Training happens before lives are on the line.
With the capacity to train up to
7,000 healthcare professionals every year
the NMDC is strengthening the healthcare workforce at scale.
The NMDF makes this possible—mobilizing funding, partnerships, and support to sustain and expand the work of the NMDC.