Two obvious answers can be given for this question. First, one could say that the Hebrew midwives completely lied to Pharaoh. In order to save human lives, the midwives had to choose what they saw as the lesser of two evils. This was to lie to Pharaoh, the "almighty" ruler of the land. The midwives lied by saying that the Hebrew women gave birth before they could arrive (Apologetics Study Bible).
A second conclusion can be gained from this question. The midwives could actually have been telling the truth. In order to save the lives of His people, God miraculously had the women give birth before any midwife could arrive.
Whatever the answer to this question may be, we know that the midwives had no intention of killing innocent babies. Verse 17 says that the midwives feared God. They knew what was evil and what was right. They knew that God wanted these babies to live. They already had their minds set to obey God.
