Lack Of Resources Hinders Recruitment Of Midwives

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has attributed the delay in the recruitment of midwives for the Midwifery Service Scheme to lack of resources.

Dr Abebayo Abanida, Acting Executive Director of the agency, told newsmen in Abuja yesterday, that the scheme was a capital project.

Abanida said the Federal Government’s intention was to employ as many midwives as possible for the rural areas in the first three years.

“Federal Government has been magnanimous enough to allocate resources for the midwives and it is a capital project, right now as am talking to you, we are struggling even to hook up with the payments of the midwives that are already on the field.

“So, that is one challenge and of course, it is a limiting factor to the deployment or recruitment of additional midwives.

“If states take this issue as seriously as we are taking it and also allocate resources like the federal government has done into improving maternal and child services at state level, it will complement what we are getting from the federal government.

“Most of these services are primary health care services which are supposed to be within the domain of the states and local governments.”

According to him, the last meeting with consultants, coordinators and Zonal Technical Officers (ZTOs) on the MSS, shows that North East zone still has children and women dying as a result of lack of access to maternal services.