Invest in midwives for mother, child survival NANNM charges FG

By Sola Ogundipe

To commemorate the 2026 

International Day of the Midwife with the theme “One Million More Midwives”, key health stakeholders have demanded for increased investment in the training, retention and welfare of midwives, warning that the country cannot reduce maternal and newborn deaths without rapidly expanding its skilled birth workforce.

Making the call in Lagos during a symposium organised by the Directorate of Nursing Services, Lagos State Ministry of Health, the Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Comrade Christiana Adeboboye, decried the shortage of midwives, saying it has become a major threat to safe pregnancy, safe delivery and postnatal care.

Adeboboye, who said midwives remain central to maternal and child survival, called for greater investment in midwifery education, improved infrastructure and stronger welfare packages to make the profession more attractive.

“We are short of midwives, we need more midwives because they are critical to safe pregnancy, safe delivery, and the postpartum period. 

“We need more midwifery colleges, and more training institutions. We need to produce more midwives at university level and at every level where midwives can be trained. We are advocating for more midwives, better empowerment for midwives, and better infrastructure,” she said. 

Adeboboye argued that achieving the maternal and child health targets under the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 would require stronger partnerships between government, professional bodies and development partners.

On the challenge of brain drain, she called for urgent  expansion of training opportunities through more midwifery colleges and increased production of midwives at both university and professional levels, focusing on retaining those already in the system.

“Midwives are specialists, yet there is no specialist allowance for them. If specialists are paid according to their expertise, then midwives should also be properly compensated for the specialised work they do.

Also speaking, the Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Ismail Abdulsalam, said the call for one million more midwives could not have come at a better time.

Abdulsalam who represented the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Oladipo Oluwaloni, said, “We want to reduce maternal mortality, perinatal mortality, infant mortality, and deaths related to childbirth, we also need stronger public-private partnerships. 

The Policy and Advocacy Coordinator on the BOOST Project with Save the Children International, Dr. Itunu Dave-Agboola, said there’s still much  to do to tackle the serious brain drain in the health sector.

“We appeal to the government to do more to attract and retain skilled professionals. Inadequate human resources make the work overwhelming for nurses and midwives. They are overworked and under pressure,” she said.

Urging government to take stronger action against quackery she lamented that quacks continue to deceive mothers and families, and lives are being lost because of it.

“We appeal for increased domestic resource mobilization for routine immunisation and maternal and child health. Many children are still dying from preventable diseases, especially in hard-to-reach and riverine communities, we must ensure that they too have access to quality healthcare services,” she said.

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