Safe Motherhood Day: FG Rolls Out New Policies to Improve Maternal, Newborn Care
The Federal Government has unveiled a series of new maternal and newborn health policies aimed at improving the quality of care and reducing preventable deaths, as Nigeria marked the 2026 Safe Motherhood Day.
The announcement was made during a ministerial press briefing held in Abuja by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, bringing together government officials, development partners, healthcare professionals, and other key stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Daju Kachollom—represented by a Permanent Secretary-designate—said this year’s theme, “Closing the Gap: From Coverage to Quality Care for Every Mother,” underscores the urgent need to move beyond access to healthcare and focus on the quality of services delivered.
She stressed that access alone is not enough to save lives, noting that timely, skilled, and compassionate care remains critical to improving maternal and newborn outcomes.
Kachollom highlighted ongoing government reforms, including the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), which targets high-burden areas using data-driven strategies, and the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS), designed to strengthen referrals and emergency response.
She added that efforts are also underway to expand health insurance coverage, strengthen the community health workforce, and equip more facilities to provide Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) services.
Also speaking, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate—represented at the event—reiterated that quality, timeliness, and equity must define maternal healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
He revealed that the MAMII programme has now been activated in 32 states, significantly scaling up interventions to address leading causes of maternal and neonatal deaths. According to him, more than 32,000 women and 1,700 newborns have benefited from emergency care under the initiative, with over 250 health facilities currently implementing the programme nationwide.
The Minister further disclosed that Nigeria’s emergency response capacity has expanded, with 612 ambulances deployed across 340 local government areas. Nearly 79,000 people—about 60 percent of them pregnant women—have accessed emergency transportation services.
He also noted improvements in service delivery, including a 20 percent increase in antenatal care attendance in intervention areas and the identification and linkage of over 166,000 previously unregistered pregnant women to healthcare facilities across states such as Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Yobe, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
In addition, the government has distributed 111,000 mama kits nationwide, with more being procured, and supplied essential maternal and newborn health commodities to hundreds of primary healthcare centres, reaching an estimated 1.2 million women and their babies.
To strengthen human resources in the sector, over 2,000 skilled birth attendants and 3,000 community health workers have been recruited, with plans for further expansion.
A key highlight of the event was the unveiling of several policy and service delivery tools, including revised Antenatal Care Guidelines, Obstetrics Clinical and Newborn Service Protocols, Life Saving Skills training packages, Maternal and Newborn Health Commodity Reporting Tools, and the MAMII Comprehensive Guide.
The government said these instruments are designed to standardise clinical practices, improve decision-making, and enhance the capacity of frontline health workers.
Other stakeholders, including the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the National Health Insurance Authority, outlined efforts to strengthen primary healthcare and expand financial access to life-saving maternal services.
Development partners such as the World Health Organization, the National Council of Women Societies, and the Safe Motherhood Committee commended the government’s efforts while calling for sustained collaboration, increased funding, and stronger accountability mechanisms.
The Federal Government also urged the media to play a more active role in raising awareness and promoting accountability in healthcare delivery.
The event ended with a renewed call for collective action among all stakeholders to ensure that no woman dies from preventable pregnancy-related causes.
“Every maternal death is preventable and unacceptable,” the Minister said, urging stakeholders to translate commitments into concrete action.
