International Midwives Day, celebrated on May 5, honors the critical role midwives play in nurturing families and advancing reproductive health. This year, World Vasectomy Day (WVD) invites us to look beyond tradition and recognize midwives not only as caregivers for women but as key allies in redefining male involvement in family planning.
Too often, midwifery is narrowly framed as women’s work for women’s health. Yet in truth, midwives are trusted stewards of reproductive care, ideally positioned to help shift outdated paradigms. After all, a vasectomy—arguably one of the most loving and responsible acts a man can take for his partner—is not just a medical procedure. It’s a gesture of shared commitment. Midwives can help make that gesture more accessible.
This year, WVD is proud to invite leading voices in midwifery to Argentina for our November celebration, including Maria Eugenia Montesinos, Director of Midwifery at NYU Langone in NYC and Leah Minton from Hawaii, who has received approval to be trained in vasectomy. We will also be extending an invitation to Sandra Oyarzo, President of the International Confederation of Midwives, to join this pivotal gathering.
In a Zoom conversation/brainstorming session held between Ms. Montesinos and Carlota Ramirez, Director of Reproductive and Sexual Health for the province of Buenos Aires, we took the time to begin dreaming of ways to collaborate between WVD and the Ministry of Health for the Province of Buenos Aires. More details will follow in the coming months, but we are excited and motivated by the possibilities.
In Argentina, one challenge is the regulatory environment. Midwives are not yet authorized to do vasectomies, but with demand rising in the country and the availability of urologists for this procedure limited, engaging midwives would be a great step forward both for the country’s heavily stressed public health system and as a powerful and positive example for the rest of the world. As always, we will follow the lead of our local partners, but WVD is committed to supporting this process as it unfolds.
By training midwives to offer information and perform vasectomies, we not only expand access but also forge a more inclusive, sustainable future for family planning. On this International Midwives Day, let’s celebrate the untapped potential of these dedicated professionals and support their evolution as champions of care for all families.
