North East has inadequate schools of midwifery – Expert

The number of Schools of Midwifery in the north-east are not enough to produce trained midwives to meet the demand of the zone’s healthcare sector. Acting Director, School of Midwifery, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, (ATBUTH) Bauchi, Hajiya Binta Abdulkareem disclosed this in Bauchi. She said this was not good with the backdrop of […]

The number of Schools of Midwifery in the north-east are not enough to produce trained midwives to meet the demand of the zone’s healthcare sector.

Acting Director, School of Midwifery, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, (ATBUTH) Bauchi, Hajiya Binta Abdulkareem disclosed this in Bauchi.

She said this was not good with the backdrop of maternal and infant mortality in the zone.

Abdulkareem called on government, religious leaders, philanthropists, wealthy Individuals, and non-governmental organisations to establish  more schools of Midwifery in the north-east zone to reduce maternal mortality.

According to her, midwives are the integral part of maternity that save the mothers and children during antenatal, and post natal cares.

"Midwives have the responsibility of a pregnancy check up  in a hospital. Midwifery, as known as obstetrics, is a health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), besides sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives," she added.

She commended the management of ATBUTH for giving the School of Midwifery a sense of belonging.

"Our request always receive adequate and prompt attention by the management, that is why we don’t have much challenges. Our library, dormitories, class rooms, chairs laboratory and technical section are functional and we have good learning and working atmosphere," she added.

The Acting Director  also appealed to the Federal Government to make the school an affiliate of ATBU School of Medicine, adding that the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) one year mandatory service for the final year students posted to health facilities in the communities by the Federal Government was effective.