The WHO and other global maternal health partners have recommended that Skilled Health Personnel are trained to have competencies to provide Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care. The State of the Worlds Midwifery 2021 report calls for investments into midwifery education.
In partnership with the Well Being Foundation Africa and the Kwara State Ministry of Health, since 2015, we established a system for continuous training of maternity care providers in public hospitals in Kwara state. This included establishing the infrastructure needed to provide onsite low dose high-frequency EmONC training. This included the training of Master trainers, setting up of skills training rooms, supporting quality training of midwives, medical students and obstetric residents at the Kwara College of Nursing and Midwifery (KCNM), and the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. Full skills training rooms were set up at both institutions and 14 other health facilities.
Under a new $300K 18-month grant from the Johnson and Johnson Foundation, our partnership with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, has resulted in the accreditation of our competency-based EmONC training course for nurses/midwives for 3 CPD points necessary for the annual renewal of practice license. We have established a Centre for Midwifery and Medical Education at the KCNM, this was launched by the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Johnson and Johnson Foundation on the 31st of May 2021. This sustainable solution to capacity strengthening of frontline maternity care providers is the first in Nigeria. Several implementation research studies will be conducted under the new grant, to investigate the training needs of maternity care providers, factors that determine the effectiveness of EmONC training of SHP and the effect of work-related stress and mental health of SHP on the quality of care they provide.
Dr Charles Ameh, PI on the grant and head of the LSTM EmOC and Quality of care unit said “Consistent with the vision, mission and values of LSTM-To save lives in resource-poor countries through research, education and capacity strengthening, the achievements of the Johnson and Johnson Foundation support since 2015 has been the results of effective partnerships with stakeholders in Nigeria”
Ikechukwu Ofuani Director, Government Affairs and Policy, West Africa Johnson and Johnson said “Together with our partners, we’re building and strengthening our health workforce to provide high-quality care and help change the trajectory of health for humanity. Support from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation has totalled more than $1.3 million since 2013 – our latest investment has gone to support the establishment of a Center of Excellence for Midwifery training in Kwara State. We can’t do it alone; our long-standing relationships with partners, like Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, help amplify our impact on the ground and make change real.”
WBFA Founder-President Toyin Ojora Saraki said "To improve maternal health significantly, we have long identified the barriers that limit access, availability and quality of maternal and newborn health services. From the first moment I witnessed the impact of hands-on anatomically delivered simulation model training globally, I knew that building a community of well-practised multi-disciplinary delivery teams could address the local frontline barriers to improving care services rapidly and whole-heartedly, at both the health system and societal level.”
Dr Raji Razak, Commissioner for Health Ministry of Health Kwara State said that “the people and government of Kwara state are proud and appreciative of the support from the Johnson and Johnson Foundation and the impact on the quality of maternal and newborn care, midwifery and medical education in the state.” He also committed to developing a policy to make it mandatory for nurses and midwives who provide maternity care in the state, in both the public and private sector to regularly obtain the NNMC accredited LSTM EmONC training.
