The State of the World’s Midwifery 2011: Nigeria

The State of the World’s Midwifery 2011 report is the first of its kind to provide an overview of midwifery services in 58 countries. These countries have some of the highest levels of maternal and newborn deaths. As the report argues, midwifery services have a critical role in saving the lives of women and newborns. 

The report provides a two page profile of the state of midwifery in Nigeria, highlighting the gaps, challenges and progress of maternal and newborn health and the midwifery workforce.

According to Nigeria's profile, the country has a strong body of registered midwives with an estimated 88,796 midwives in 2008, including nurse-midwives and nurses with midwifery-skills.  However, despite these numbers, coverage of skilled birth attendance is still low at less than 50 per cent. This is largely due to difficulties in retaining qualified healthcare providers in rural areas.

Encouragingly, the Nigerian Government has made steps to strengthen midwifery services. For instance, in 2009 the Ministry of Health launched the Midwives Service Scheme to address the midwifery shortages in primary health care. Also, following the launch of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health (2010), the Nigerian Government has committed to deploying more skilled health staff to rural areas to reinforce an already existing midwifery workforce in local health facilities.

To read Nigeria’s profile, click here.