Midwives’ and Mothers’ Perception of Midwives Service Scheme in Selected Area Councils in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja - Nigeria

ABSTRACT The importance of skilled birth attendants in the reduction of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality worldwide cannot be over-emphasized. The midwives service scheme was established by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) in collaboration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria in 2009 to achieve reduction in maternal, newborn and under-five mortality in Nigeria, especially in rural communities. The purpose of the study was to determine how mothers and midwives in selected Area Councils in Abuja perceive the midwives service scheme. Five objectives and three null hypotheses were raised to guide the study. Quantitative descriptive survey design was used to study the midwives’ perception while both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted for the study of mothers’ perception. The whole MSS midwives (32) in the studied Area Councils were used for the study while a sample size of 381 mothers was drawn from the population of 1483. Two sets of researcher-developed questionnaires were used to generate data from the midwives and mothers; while eight focus group discussion sessions with 83 mothers were also used as a backup instrument for generating data from the mothers. The instruments were certified valid and reliable, r = 0.85 and 0.89 using split half reliability test for midwives’ and mother’s questionnaire respectively. Data were administered directly to respondents by the researcher and four assistants. Objectives of the study were analysed descriptively, while one-way ANOVA and paired t-test were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data from the focus group discussion were analyzed thematically and findings from thematic analysis wereused to back up the findings from statistical analysis. Result showed that midwives and mothers perceived the MSS positively but factors like poor salary, lack of materials like drugs, electricity and poor attitude of health workers counted negatively against the scheme. More midwives should be recruited and the midwives’ salaries enhanced to motivate them.