World Health Day 2025: Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures

7 April 2025

World Health Day, celebrated on 7 April 2025, will kick off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health. The campaign, titled “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures”, will urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritize women’s longer-term health and well-being.

WHO and partners will also share useful information to support healthy pregnancies and births, and better postnatal health.

Maternal and newborn health in the WHO European Region

Despite advances in the past few decades, recent trends indicate stagnation and, alarmingly, even regression in maternal and newborn health outcomes in the WHO European Region.

The World Health Day 2025 campaign for the WHO European Region highlights 5 key goals that are specific to the Region and require immediate action.

1. Tackling the stagnation and regression in maternal and newborn health 

In 2020 alone, approximately 1000 women in the Region died due to complications related to pregnancy or childbirth, a worsening of the situation when compared to the previous year. The situation has since improved, with maternal mortality rates returning to pre-pandemic levels.

2. Ensuring financial protection (affordable access to health care) for expectant and new mothers 

Access to maternal health services should be a fundamental right, not a privilege determined by legal or financial status, or social/ethnic background. It is imperative to eliminate financial barriers to access and ensure that all expectant and new mothers receive the care they need without experiencing financial hardship.

3. Supporting and protecting midwives and obstetricians 

Midwives and obstetricians are the cornerstone of maternal and newborn care, and they provide the vast majority of essential reproductive, maternal and newborn care. Their expertise ensures safe pregnancies and deliveries. However, to maintain high standards of care, midwives need support, protection and proper pay

4. Prioritizing the mental health of expectant and new mothers 

Mental health is integral to overall well-being, yet perinatal mental illnesses remain significant complications of pregnancy. Systemic challenges often hinder women from accessing necessary mental health services during and after pregnancy. To address this, routine maternity care should fully integrate mental health support, ensuring proactive assessments and interventions.

5. Zero tolerance for violence against pregnant women and mothers 

Violence against pregnant women and mothers, in any form, is unacceptable and poses severe risks to both maternal and newborn health. It is imperative to implement and enforce policies that protect mothers from violence, provide support systems for those affected and foster a culture of respect and safety in health-care settings.