Atsede Kidane

Atsede is a Gurage midwife with over a decade of experience dedicated to the women of Cheha woreda. She grew up a stone’s throw from the hospital where she would later become the senior midwife, catching almost ten thousand babies and intervening in countless emergencies, touching many lives. She is a much-loved and well-respected member of the community, with women walking for hours to see her. After running the delivery room at the busy referral hospital, Atsede took up a post leading maternity services at a government-run health centre to try to improve the maternity services before coming together with Indie to open their own birth centre.

Atsede was awarded the International Midwife of the Year Award in 2019, a tribute to her love of her profession and her passion for working to right the wrongs of health inequalities.