title: The midwives service scheme in Nigeria.
abstract: Maternal, newborn, and child health indices in Nigeria vary widely across geopolitical zones and between urban and rural areas, mostly due to variations in the availability of skilled attendance at birth. To improve these indices, the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) in Nigeria engaged newly graduated, unemployed, and retired midwives to work temporarily in rural areas. The midwives are posted for 1 year 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. The outcome of the MSS 1 year on has been an uneven improvement in maternal, newborn, and child health indices in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Major challenges include retention, availability and training of midwives, and varying levels of commitment from state and local governments across the country, and despite the availability of skilled birth attendants at MSS facilities, women still deliver at home in some parts of the country.
authors.affiliation: National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria. seyeabimbola@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Seye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abimbola
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Okoli
authors.forename: Olalekan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Olubajo
authors.forename: Mohammed J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Abdullahi
authors.forename: Muhammad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pate
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D008880:Midwifery; D009549:Nigeria; D009773:Obstetric Nursing; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D012424:Rural Population; D000078329:Workforce