Toyin Saraki’s Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Partners UNFPA, Academic Institutions. To Bring International Confederation Of Midwives Midwifery Services Framework To Heart Of Nigeria’s Midwives And Nursing Profession.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa marked the International Day of the Midwife, with the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), UNFPA, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), GE Healthcare, Access Bank, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), and many other partners at a two-day conference from 4^th until 5^th May in Abuja, Nigeria.

This conference was held to promote and raise awareness on maternal, newborn and child health, especially including the important role midwives play in that continuum of care. The conference celebrated the hardwork and dedication of the midwives, and encouraged key stakeholders to invest in their training and education, as well as the regulation of the profession.

Speaking at the conference, the CEO of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mr Stephen Sobhani noted: “Midwives are the first eyes to see and the first hands to hold our future”. He also explained, “if we improve lives, we save the world, and Nigerians can change the world. WBFA has always put midwives at the centre of its interventions, as it understands the important position they hold in achieving sustainable change in healthcare, as well as reaching the SDG targets for Nigeria and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.”

To celebrate the International Day of the Midwife, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa launched several names for its advocacy and project interventions, including the #MamaCare and #MamaKind programmes. These will complement the Foundation’s long-standing work, including the popular #MaternalMonday campaign.

At the Conference, Nigeria’s Minister of Health commended the organizers, assuring that the Government of Nigeria will continue to deploy midwives to all parts of the country, as it works to strengthen the human resources for health capacity. Also, the UNFPA restated its passion for the strengthening of midwifery education in Nigeria, by donating training kits to select midwifery schools.

The Founder-President of the WBFA and the Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), Her Excellency, Mrs. Toyin Saraki emphasized the importance of midwifery to Nigeria and Africa: “ I will like to personally commend the dedication of Nigerian midwives, as well as midwives from all around the world. I have seen with my own eyes the value that having a midwife can make to a mother”.

The conference solidified the commitment that Nigerian health professionals, academics, and policymakers have in saving the lives of mothers and newborns in their country, through improving the status of the midwife and the profession.