As part of efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, the Kwara State Government has commenced training 290 healthcare workers in skilled birth attendance.
The training, organised in collaboration with the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity programme, is holding in Ilorin from October 19 to November 3, 2026.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the Press Secretary of the Kwara State Hospitals Management Board, Adamu Usman Sabi.
According to the statement, the initiative is aimed at strengthening healthcare workers’ capacity to provide appropriate care during pregnancy, labour, childbirth and newborn care, with emphasis on preventing avoidable deaths among mothers and babies.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Abdulraheem Malik, said the programme was designed to equip healthcare personnel with the skills required to ensure safe deliveries and manage complications during childbirth.
“What we are trying to do with the programme is to train our health workers on skilled birth attendance. Basically, we are trying to drop the rate of maternal mortality and also neonatal mortality in Kwara State,” Malik said.
He explained that participants were drawn from healthcare facilities across the state’s three senatorial districts to ensure that the skills acquired would improve maternal healthcare delivery in communities across Kwara.
Malik said maternal mortality in the state had been declining, adding that the government was determined to sustain the progress, prevent avoidable deaths and bring the figures closer to levels recommended by the World Health Organisation.
He stressed that strengthening healthcare workers’ capacity to manage deliveries and respond promptly to complications was crucial to improving maternal and newborn health outcomes.
The executive secretary added that the government planned to make the training an annual exercise to ensure healthcare workers remained updated on developments in medical practice and emerging technologies.
He urged residents, particularly pregnant women, to maintain confidence in the state’s healthcare system, assuring them that the government remained committed to improving service delivery.
