The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has called for greater investments to curb child and maternal death in the country which will in turn increase the number of midwives and enhance the quality of their services.

The UNFPA resident representative in Nigeria, Mrs Ritidzai Ndhlovu gave the charge in a message titled “Strengthening midwifery in the SDG era: From evidence to implementation” to mark the International Day of the Midwife 2016.

Ndhlovu who quoted available evidence, stressed how midwives who are educated and regulated to international standards could provide 87 per cent of the essential care needed by women and their newborns.

She stressed how nearly 800 women die daily from pregnancy and childbirth complications.

The UNFPA chief noted: “Today, on the International Day of the Midwife, we stand in solidarity with midwives worldwide and thank them for the life-saving work they do.”

“There is a need for strong institutions as a machinery to improve the profession and make it more lucrative. Counting of GDP is no longer meaningful without the prosperity of the masses and the strongest way of empowering women is through the help of midwives through family planning and reproductive health as poverty should not be an excuse in mitigating against going to school for more knowledge.”