Landmark Success for Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes As Wellbeing Foundation Africa Enters Second Phase of Global Grant Training Program for Healthworkers

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), marked the end of the first phase of the Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) ‘Making It Happen’ Project which was carried out in three (3) Local Government Areas in Kwara State: Ilorin-West, Ilorin-East and Ilorin-South. A Dissemination of Results Meeting commemorating the end of Phase-1 of this project was organized on the 14th of July at the Captain Cook Event Centre in Ilorin, Kwara State. The event had many attendees, including Midwives, Nurses and Doctors. Health workers who were present at the event were mainly from the 9 Project Facilities, and have benefitted from the EmONC Trainings across the project LGAs, each of which had a Skills Lab: Specialist Hospital, Sobi (Ilorin-East LGA); Civil Service Specialist Hospital, Ilorin (Ilorin-South LGA); and Adewole Cottage Hospital (Ilorin-West LGA).

Making It Happen is a competency-based EmONC training project, with the aim of increasing the availability and quality care for mothers and their newborns, in selected Comprehensive and Basic Primary Healthcare facilities in Kwara State, and to also support pre-service midwifery/medical institutions to improve competency-based EmONC training. The training package included trainings on Life-saving Skills (LSS); EmONC; 9 signal functions of Maternal and Newborn Care; preventing and managing the 5 major causes of maternal deaths, including PPH, eclampsia, sepsis, obstructed labor and complicated abortion and Caesarean Section (CS). In addition to this, trainings on data quality were also carried out. The results and findings gathered during the period the EmONC project was carried out in the three (3) LGAs had 96 Health Workers; mainly Midwives; 19 Trainers; 8 Course Directors and 10 Continuous Medical Education (CME) Directors trained, while hundreds of others benefitted from the trainings in the skills lab, increasing knowledge and skills of health workers trained on EmONC, with attendant increase in facility-based delivery, a reduction in referrals (as most cases were handled in the facilities due to increased skills), early identification and management of women in need of Emergency Obstetric Care, and the results of zero maternal deaths.

Dignitaries who graced the event with their presence included H.E. Mrs Toyin Saraki, founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), represented by Dr Yewande Ayoola, Abuja Programmes Manager of WBFA; the Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Atolagbe Alege, represented by Hajia Bola Zubair, Deputy Director of Nursing Services; the Director General of the Kwara State Hospital Management Bureau, Dr Bunmi Jetawo-Winter; Kwara State Commissioner for Information and Communications Technology, Mr. Babatunde Ajeigbe, represented by Mrs Christianah Asonibare, an Assistant Director in the Ministry and Ms. Ayobola Olupinla, Press Secretary of the Ministry, as well as Prof. Muyideen Ijaiya, a member of the O&G Department of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.

Speaking on behalf of H.E. Mrs Saraki, Dr Ayoola stated: “I assure all our partners that the resources we have all dedicated, with particular focus on providing skills laboratories as the right investments and the smart investments, to make this initiative a reality, will not go to waste, but rather, will deliver clearly tangible and accountable beneficial dividends in ensuring that every newborn delivered by EmONC-trained medical personnel will be delivered for good.” All partners present pledged their commitment to the successful continuation of the EmONC project in Kwara State. The State Ministry of Health pledged to continuously support WBFA and LSTM in the improvement of RMNCAH in Kwara State. The Ministry of ICT pledged to support the project in ensuring every citizen of Kwara State, particularly at the grassroots level, know about the project, which will help them seek appropriate care. The Hospital Management Bureau pledged to ensure health workers from unreached facilities benefit from those that have been trained, and to monitor the continuous utilization of Skills Labs for training, during their routine supportive supervisions.

The next phase of the project will be executed in 12 facilities across Four (4) LGAs in Kwara state.

[The Wellbeing Foundation Africa]