WorldStage– The Federal Government of Nigeria is implementing strategic initiatives, including the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiative (MAMII) in 33 states, to reduce mortality through community-driven solutions, improved primary healthcare, and better access to emergency care.
Prof Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, made this known at an event to celebrate the International Day of the Midwife 2026.
Pate, was represented by Dr Abisola Adegoke, the Director, Hospital Services of the ministry.
Other key actions, the minister said, include deploying 19,000+ skilled birth attendants, increasing midwifery training enrollment from 28,000 to over 110,000, and launching new policy documents to improve emergency care and reduce preventable deaths.
He said that the ministry had launched the Nigeria Strategic Direction for Midwifery 2025-2030 and a comprehensive national roadmap designed to strengthen education, expand workforce capacity, leadership and service delivery processes of midwives.
Pate said that through the strategy, the federal government is expanding training institutions and increasing student intake for midwifery programmes, as well as standardising and modernizing midwifery education to meet local best practices.
He said that the idea would also create additional employment opportunities and remove barriers to recruitment, and promote equitable deployment of midwives, especially to rural and underserved areas.
“The ministry has prioritised continuous professional development for midwives by investing in competency-based training and life-saving skills to improve outcomes for mothers and newborns.
“Furthermore, the ministry is targeting high-volume areas through the MAMII.
“One million more midwives, the theme for this year International day of the Midwife’s celebration is appropriate and timely because it serves as a reminder of the critical shortage of midwives globally.
“The shortage does not exempt our health institutions and the need to scale up the midwifery workforce. Midwifery is a critical strategy for improving maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes.
“Midwives play an indispensable role in safeguarding lives, providing care from pregnancy through childbirth and beyond.They remain at the front line of maternal and newborn healthcare delivery, particularly in underserved and rural communities.
“No health system can provide optimal maternal and child health services without having an adequate number of skilled midwives,” Pate stressed.
Also speaking, Dr Ndagi Alhassan, the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), said that for Nigeria to secure the future of its healthcare, its must forge a workforce that is more technically brilliant and globally competitive by investing in quality education.
According to him, investing in quality education will ensure that midwives are able to gain their confidence, critically valued and posses the leadership skills required to provide world-class life-saving care.
He said that there was need to create an enabling environment where midwives work with autonomy, dignity, and the right tools, as well as strengthens the practice that would required more than just supervision.
“This also means enacting policies that allow midwives to work with their full potential. When a midwife is well-supported and empowered, she does not just improve outcomes, she saves lives, reduces mortality, and builds healthier communities.
“We must ensure that no village or hard to reach community is left without a life-saving birth attendant or a midwife. To build this workforce, the nation must move beyond talk and focus on action by expanding training opportunities, ensuring fair remuneration, reproduction, and provide the safe working conditions our midwives deserve.
“Beyond that comes the need to also promote nurses and midwives into leadership roles, where they can shape the policies that govern their profession. It is worth noting that a strong midwifery workforce is the bedrock of universal health coverage
“By prioritising diagnosis and supporting this profession, we are securing a better future for every woman and child in Nigeria. The truth is spoken.
No matter how ever painful it may be, daily, Nigeria carries a burden that our hearts cannot overcome yet.
“On a global scale, Nigeria ranks among the highest maternal and infant mortality, second or third highest in the world for the absolute number of maternal and infant deaths, which has a much larger population,” Alhassan said.
He said that the recent data by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank, the weight of voting indicates that 1 in every 4 maternal deaths globally occurs in Nigeria, adding that, infant mortality rate remains high at roughly 17 per 1,000 life days, while the under 5 mortality rate is approximately 140 per 1,000 life days.
The registrar said that the country must work harder to change the narratives, change the destiny of the country locally and on a global scale.
Also speaking earlier, Mr Haruna Mamman, President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) decries the shortage of midwives in the country healthcare sector.
Mamman who was represented by Mr Jama Medan, Chairman of the association FCT Chapter stated that the country has about 30,000 shortage of midwives, and that was why some challenges are coming up in the country’s hospitals.
“Lack of adequate attention to midwife training is one of the challenges we face in the healthcare sector. Training are under funded, as well as lack of other resources,” he said.
Mamman called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to commit to improving welfare of midwives and quality education, adding that, when all these are done, it will reduce maternal death.
