NBGS Inaugurates Midwifery School

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

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Addressing the gathering at the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, the representative of ACC Dr. Mike Steve said the school is a gift from the people of Australia who also felt that everybody is free from any obstacle when there is hope and protection of one self.

“I want to tell everyone here that this school is a gift of love from people in Australia. We have this belief that all people are created equal and before God I know that this is true,” he said.

“One thing that you should know is that the birth rate in Australia may be like the one here in NBGS but the fatal maternal mortality rate differs because of rampant deaths of mothers.

“Statistically, 1-2 mothers die every hour here in South Sudan or NBGS. This is not the last thing to do to the people of Northern Bahr el Ghazal but I believe this school should be the best midwifery school in South Sudan through our efforts,” he explained.

According to Steve, the decision of donating a midwifery school to NBGS came in 2009 when he visited the state on his religious mission but instead found numerous facing South Sudanese mothers at times of births. He said the challenges drove him to mobilize his religious colleagues to help reduce maternal mortality rate in South Sudan.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative, Mama Zinah said her main goal is to ensure the midwives in the state and country reach international standards as opposed to Traditional Birth Attendants [TBA]. 

“I am glad to introduce to you my students who are going to undertake midwifery course for the next two and half years in order to become professional midwives in South Sudan. These students you see are going to be trained as professional midwives in order to rescue the lives of our mothers who are still vulnerable of maternal mortality in Aweil,” said Zinah.

On behalf of the admitted students, Joseph Malual Awach hailed donors for making their dreams of building a technical midwifery school a possibility. 

The school facility is handed over to the state Ministry of Health for supervision under the management of UNFPA and ACC.

The school is expected to be upgraded to a national midwifery school after graduating the first batch of midwives in 2015.