As part of measures to boost maternal and child healthcare delivery in the Ekiti State, the Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services Project in the state has recruited 100 skilled birth attendants for primary healthcare centres in the state.
IMPACT Project Coordinator in Ekiti State, Dr Sunday Omoya, said that the project, a collaboration between the World Bank and Ekiti State Government, was stepping up efforts to bridge the personnel gap in the PHCs and make the facilities more attractive to pregnant women for safe delivery.
Omoya made this disclosure in Ado Ekiti, the state capital on Thursday, 5 June, 2025 during the orientation programme for the newly recruited skilled birth attendants comprising nurses, midwives and community health officers employed for the PHCs to improve the quality of service and reduce maternal mortality in the state.
“The IMPACT project has a very important project delivery objective, which is to reduce maternal mortality and to reduce under-five mortality. We know the key role that the personnel who attend to these pregnant women play in achieving that goal.
“We know that when pregnant women have access to skilled officers when they go for antenatal care and to deliver, the chances of that woman surviving is a lot better than when she goes to places or people who are not trained.
“We have recruited these professionals to help increase the number of skilled birth attendants that will be available to attend to pregnant women and children in the PHC structure in Ekiti State,” .Omoya said
The state IMPACT coordinator added that although a good number of the PHCs in the state already had staff, “These 100 are engaged to complement them so that we can achieve better quality care and reduce maternal mortality in the state. That is our hope.
“We appeal to our pregnant women that steps are already being taken to address complaints that facilities don’t have staff. You should go to the PHC closest to you for your antenatal care and deliveries. You will come out with very wonderful outcomes.
“This service is free, the government has already introduced the Ulerawa services that take care of pregnant women for free. We are sending these staff to improve the quality of the service we get.”
The Chairman, Ekiti State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr Olufunke Ogunbunmi, said that the orientation played an important role in preparing the newly recruited traditional birth attendants for the challenges in their future clinical practices.
Ogunbunmi, who congratulated them on their success in the recruitment process, said, “Your employment is to fill the gaps in the dwindling human resource for health at the PHC level.
“As a skilled birth attendant, you are to assist and support your facilities in the delivery of qualitative maternal and child health services to the communities. I am convinced that with you on board, there will be tremendous improvement in the maternal indices in the maternal and child health indices of Ekiti State.”
The SPHCD Board chairman lauded Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, “For support for healthcare delivery in the state, especially in Ulerawa and prompt payment of counterpart supports for all health programmes.”
