FG unveils plan to boost midwifery workforce
Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
TLDR
- The Nigerian Federal Government has launched a national strategy, 'Nigeria Strategic Direction for Midwifery 2025–2030,' to address a shortage of 30,000 midwives.
- The plan aims to reduce high maternal and infant mortality rates by expanding training, increasing student intake, and modernizing midwifery education.
- Efforts will focus on creating employment, removing recruitment bottlenecks, and ensuring equitable deployment, especially in underserved rural areas.
Nigeria's Federal Government has unveiled a critical national strategy, 'Nigeria Strategic Direction for Midwifery 2025–2030,' in a determined effort to confront the nation's alarming maternal and infant mortality rates. The strategy directly targets an estimated shortage of 30,000 midwives, a deficit that significantly hampers the provision of essential healthcare services for mothers and newborns. Launched in Abuja during the 2026 International Day of the Midwife, the plan signifies a strategic initiative to bolster the midwifery workforce and enhance health outcomes across the country.
The Ministry is expanding training institutions and increasing student intake for midwifery programmes, while also standardising and modernising education.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, emphasized the government's commitment to implementing deliberate and strategic initiatives to bridge the existing gap. The roadmap includes expanding midwifery training institutions, increasing student enrollment, and updating educational curricula to align with global standards. This expansion is coupled with efforts to streamline recruitment processes and ensure that newly trained midwives are equitably distributed, with a particular focus on rural and underserved communities where maternal deaths are most concentrated. The initiative also aims to scale up competency-based training and continuous professional development, targeting high-burden areas through the Maternal Mortality Reduction Initiative.
No health system can provide optimal maternal and child health services without an adequate number of skilled midwives.
The Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Dr. Ndagi Alhassan, underscored the urgency of the situation, noting that Nigeria accounts for a substantial portion of global maternal and child deaths, with one in every four such deaths occurring in the country, according to WHO and World Bank data. He stressed that beyond mere training, improving working conditions and empowering midwives to practice autonomously are paramount. This comprehensive approach, from expanding educational capacity to enhancing the professional environment, is seen as vital to reversing the grim statistics and ensuring that every mother and child receives adequate care.
On a global scale, Nigeria ranks among the highest in maternal and infant mortality.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
More Stories
From Our Blog
How the Same Story Looks Different in Different Countries
What Gets Lost (and Found) When News Is Translated
The Critical Role of Diaspora Media in Global News
What Travellers Should Know About Countries with Restricted Press
A Digital Nomad's Guide to Following Local News
