Mrs Toyin Saraki, wife of the Senate President and founder of Wellbeing Foundation Africa, has advocated for more skilled midwives in order to provide quality health care for women, newborns and their families.

Saraki’s advice came even as the World Health Organization, WHO,International Confederation of Midwives, and the White Ribbon Alliance Global published its annual survey tagged, “Midwives Realities Report 2016”.

The survey documents the voices of 2740 Midwives in 93 countries, and describes, from their perspective, the barriers they experience to providing quality respectful care for women, newborns and their families.

The survey also revealed that nearly half (45%) of midwives reported being exhausted. We know that most midwives combine triple roles of work, motherhood and caring for others in their communities. Many midwives are neither being provided with adequate education, or regulatory and legal support While a lack of investment in midwives reinforces gender inequality & unequal power relations within the health system.

Saraki said in a world where so many women, and their families lack access to the required continuum of care and counsel, to survive and thrive, midwives can, and should be the army to change dire health outcomes, if we invest in them and provide them with skills.

The findings also highlight that hierarchies of power and gender discrimination hinder progress, but also demonstrate the great potential for improvements in quality of care when the voices of midwives are heard.