Abstract
Introduction: Midwifery is the art of caring for women during childbearing. It is practiced throughout the world according to the norms, traditions and cultural practices found in each country. Maternal mortality in Nigeria is high but there are wide variations between the geopolitical zones of the country. Government has established the midwives service scheme (MSS) as part of efforts towards reversing the country’s unacceptably high maternal mortality trends. To improve these indices, the MSS in Nigeria engaged newly graduated unemployed and retired midwives to work temporarily in rural areas. The midwives are posted for twelve months to selected primary care facilities linked through a cluster model in which four such facilities with the capacity to provide basic essential obstetric care are clustered around a secondary care facility with the capacity to provide comprehensive emergency obstetric care. This brief review is an attempt at exploring the impact of the midwives service scheme on maternal and neonatal indices in Nigeria. Main content: The outcome of the MSS four years has been an improvement though unevenly and marginally, in these indices in the various geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Improvements have been noticed in maternal indices such as antenatal care attendance, women receiving two doses of tetanus toxoid and number of deliveries by skilled personnel. Also reduction in maternal and neonatal mortality has been observed over the years following introduction of the scheme. Major challenges however, include lack of essential drugs, poor accommodation facilities for MSS staff, irregular payment of their remuneration and lack of water/power supply to some designated facilities for the scheme. Recommendations and conclusions: It is therefore recommended that 24 hours availability of essential drugs at primary healthcare centers be maintained. This should happen in conjunction with regular payment of full entitlements and benefits and provision of secured, habitable and good accommodation for MSS staff. Finally, aggressive community mobilization should continue in order to engender community involvement and participation for sustainable program development.
Highlights
Midwifery is the art of caring for women during childbearing
Midwifery is practiced throughout the world according to the norms, traditions and cultural practices entrenched in each country, in the same way that midwifery standards and their training curriculum vary from country to country [1]
This review briefly explores the contributions of the midwives service scheme (MSS) towards improving maternal and neonatal indices in Nigeria
Summary
Midwifery is practiced throughout the world according to the norms, traditions and cultural practices entrenched in each country, in the same way that midwifery standards and their training curriculum vary from country to country [1]. Two approaches to licensed midwifery practice are consistently found: nurse-midwives and direct-entry midwives The latter, which is the more common approach, enters health care practice directly as midwives rather than through any other health profession, while the former involves post-nursing education. Countries such as Canada, Ghana, Kenya, the United Kingdom, and the United States train both types of midwives. Midwives are deployed to health facilities in rural communities to enhance skilled attendance at birth and hopefully aid reduction in maternal, newborn and child mortality and morbidity.
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