As we approach the end of Safe Motherhood Month, I was pleased to take the opportunity to meet and confer with longstanding WellbeingFoundation Africa Policy, Advocacy, Research and Development allies to review the last decade of program impact, following the launch of the 2024 UNFPA SWOP Report at Abuja last week.

We welcome the Safe Motherhood Technical Working Group briefing from H.E. Professor Muhammad Ali Pate CON, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, released on the 22nd of April, as this year’s theme: “Investing in Maternal Health for a Sustainable Future,” with the slogan “Mother Lives, Child Thrives,” aptly calls on all stakeholders to work together to ensure that no woman dies from pregnancy and childbirth related conditions, and every newborn is protected and assisted to thrive into healthy childhood.

At the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, our advocacy is guided by our frontline programming actions led by qualified WBFA midwives and nurses, to ensure that every pregnant woman receives all the pillars of Safe Motherhood including full antenatal, skilled, and safe facility-based delivery, respectful maternity care, post-natal care integrated with family planning especially postpartum and post-abortion family planning, entrenched in the fundamental principle of equity and made available at all levels of health care in every community.

By providing daily action and education through sustainable initiatives, WBFA is ensuring no woman dies from pregnancy and childbirth related conditions, and that every newborn is protected and assisted to thrive into a healthy childhood, while supporting the mission to save lives, reduce both physical and financial pain and produce health for all Nigerians.

Together, as primary stakeholders and community caretakers, we are building a nation in which every mother experiences the joy of childbirth with respect, safety and dignity, transforming public health behaviours, household practices and preventable maternal health complications, to create positive health outcomes for women and their children.