When Phoebe Peter applied to National Primary Health Care Agency (NPHCDA) as a midwife under the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), she was lucky to get a placement in Jigawa State. Just like anybody, she was not sure what was ahead as she was posted to a rural community. She saw her appointment as an opportunity to actualise her passion for people at the grassroots level.
Phoebe never realised that the highest gratifying service she would offer would be donating her blood to save peoples lives. In less than two years she donated blood five times, helping to save the lives of mothers and babies, and giving hope back to their despairing families.
Her Workplace
Kiyawa Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) is a few kilometres away from Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State in northwest Nigeria. Situated in Kiyawa local government, the PHC with 50-bed capacity, serves a big part of the population.
Jigawa’s Share of Midwives
Kiyawa is not exempted from the severe shortage of healthcare workers across the country. There is a national average of 30 doctors and 100 nurses per 100,000 people (Nigeria Health System Assessment 2008). In Jigawa, it is 1.6 doctors and 8.3 nurses per 100,000. Such small numbers of healthworkers resulted in poor quality healthcare delivery and a high maternal and child death ratio of about 2,000 deaths per 100, 000 live births, more than twice the national average.The federal government planned to fill the gap by employing and deploying nurses and midwives through the Midwives Service Scheme, a process through which resulted in Phoebe being posted to Kiyawa PHC.
Her Courage
Phoebe’s blood donation experience started with a woman who gave birth at home but needed an urgent blood transfusion because of excessive bleeding, and was going to die. Phoebe also encountered other women in labour with anaemia, malaria or a combination of both. One such woman was severely anaemic and had no strength to push. Then blood was desperately needed to save her life and that of her unborn child. There was another 10-month old baby for whom death was ticking and who needed blood urgently to stay alive.
All these people are alive today because Phoebe selflessly donated her blood to save their lives
Idris Wuriwa, Chief Health Officer in Charge of the PHC was excited to have a member of staff totally dedicated to saving people’s lives. Kiyawa PHC has four midwives and two community health extension workers but Idris saw Phoebe’s attitude as encouraging the rest. Phoebe showed that saving one life is like saving the whole world.
Her Motivation
28 year old Phoebe just stuck to her motto of serving humanity. Her motivation is her empathy for people in need and her passion to make a difference whenever she has the opportunity. In addition to donating blood, Phoebe joined her colleagues to donate money to indigent patients for drugs, a gesture she said motivated other women to use the health facility during childbirth.
Phoebe’s name will go down in history as an extraordinary person saving lives of mothers and newborns through voluntary blood donation.