FG Rolls Out National Roadmap to Strengthen Midwifery, Maternal Health<\/p>\n
The Federal Government has launched the Nigeria Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2025\u20132030, a comprehensive national roadmap aimed at strengthening midwifery and improving maternal and newborn health outcomes across the country.<\/p>\n
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, made this known during a ministerial press briefing in Abuja to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Midwife.<\/p>\n
Represented by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr. Abisola Adegoke, Professor Pate said midwives are the frontline of maternal and newborn healthcare delivery, particularly in underserved and rural communities.<\/p>\n
He stressed that no health system can deliver optimal maternal and child health services without an adequate number of skilled midwives, adding that they play an indispensable role in safeguarding lives from pregnancy through childbirth and beyond.<\/p>\n
The new roadmap is designed to strengthen education, expand workforce capacity, enhance leadership, and improve service delivery for nurses and midwives.<\/p>\n
According to a statement issued by the Ministry’s Asst Director of Information and Public Relations, Ado Bako, under the strategy, the government will expand training institutions and increase student intake for midwifery programmes, standardise and modernise midwifery education to meet global best practices, create additional employment opportunities, remove barriers to recruitment, and promote equitable deployment of midwives, especially to rural and underserved areas.<\/p>\n
Professor Pate added that the Ministry has prioritised continuous professional development for midwives through competency-based training and life-saving skills to improve outcomes for mothers and newborns. He said the Ministry is also targeting high-burden areas through the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII) with the goal of ensuring that no woman dies while giving birth.<\/p>\n
Other programmes being scaled up include Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC). \u201cAll these interventions, with the involvement of midwives, are intended to improve care and the country\u2019s health indices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On the 2026 theme, \u201cOne Million More Midwives,\u201d Professor Pate described it as timely, noting that it highlights the critical shortage of midwives globally, which Nigeria is not exempt from. He reiterated that scaling up the midwifery workforce is a critical strategy for improving maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes.<\/p>\n
He also disclosed that partnerships are ongoing to equip midwives with the necessary tools, supplies, and supportive work environments. \u201cThere is improvement in welfare, motivation, and retention efforts, recognising that a supported workforce delivers better care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Minister pledged to scale up the production of midwives to meet national demand, strengthen primary healthcare systems where midwives play a central role, invest in digital health systems to support service delivery, improve working conditions and professional development opportunities, and deepen community engagement to promote skilled birth attendance.<\/p>\n
Addressing the midwives directly, Prof. Pate said, \u201cTo our midwives across the country, we see you, we value you, we celebrate your dedication, resilience, and compassion. You are the backbone of safe motherhood and healthy families.<\/p>\n
To our partners and stakeholders, we appreciate your unwavering support to this mission. Together, we can ensure that every pregnancy is safe, every birth is attended by skilled hands, and every child has a healthy start to life.\u201d He concluded<\/p>\n
In her welcome address, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Daju Kachollom, represented by Dr. Okpako Okpikpi, Director of Teaching Hospitals, noted that the event provided an opportunity not to only recognise the tireless efforts of midwives but to also reflect on the urgent need to strengthen the health system.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we gather to celebrate the dedication, resilience, and invaluable contributions of midwives to the health and wellbeing of women, newborns, and families across Nigeria. Midwives remain at the heart of our healthcare system, providing essential care before, during, and after childbirth, often in the most challenging conditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Permanent Secretary \u0155eaffirmed the Ministry’s pledge to strengthen support for midwives through improved training, better working conditions, and greater investment in healthcare infrastructure, and thanked development partners and stakeholders for their continued collaboration in advancing maternal and child health in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
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FG Rolls Out National Roadmap to Strengthen Midwifery, Maternal Health The Federal Government has launched the Nigeria Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2025\u20132030, a comprehensive national roadmap aimed at strengthening midwifery and improving maternal and newborn health outcomes across the country. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":150600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-150609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-others"},"yoast_head":"\n