The Ministry of Health (MINISANTE) and its partners have started a program to increase the number of midwives in Rwanda.
MINISANTE and the United States Fund for International Development (USAID) have decided to work together to quadruple the number of midwives in Rwanda over the next four years (in a program called 4×4)
The Director of Ministry of Health Education and Development, Dr Menelas Nkeshimana, launched the scholarship program for 240 students studying midwifery at the East African Christian College of the Anglican Church in Masaka in Kicukiro, on Monday Double on March 19, 2024.
The other 500 students include 162 studying midwifery at Kibogora Polytechnic University in Nyamasheke, and 98 studying at Kabgayi Catholic University (Université Catholique de Kabgayi) in Muhanga.
Dr Nkeshimana says, “Currently, one midwife takes care of 1000 people, that’s why we have to quadruple the number of midwives. Midwives are among the lagging professions, we have to increase them to reduce maternal deaths.”
Dr Nkeshimana says that the reason why they continue to look for partners to teach nurses, is that the number of people who participate in learning the profession is small (about 20%) due to lack of capacity.
It is also at a time when the National Council of Nurses, Nurses and Midwives (NCNM) says that so far all the midwives in Rwanda are a little over 2,000.
The Director General of the East African Christian College, Dr Musafiri Malimba Papias, says that the number of students studying at the University before the free tuition was 800, but now they have reached 1200, and he hopes that the number will continue to increase.
Management Sciences for Health (MSH), led by Dr Anita Asiimwe, is implementing the USAID project called Ireme, which provides scholarships to students studying medicine.
Dr. Asiimwe says that among those who received scholarships, some will get their degrees after three years of being in school, while others will get them after four years. Dr Asiimwe says, “These students are provided with school fees and will help them to live in the University, even those who drop out due to lack of ability will not be seen.”
The recipients of the scholarship are the ones who always follow the news and announcements of those Universities including East African Christian College, to know when they are called to come and take the exams.
Jean de la Paix Mporanyisenga, who is a midwife and one of the recipients of the grant to study at the East African Christian College, says that sometimes they do not see how to take care of all the patients, especially when the midwife is looking after multiple mothers.
He says, “Sometimes you find yourself alone while your colleagues are taking care of other sick patients, so being alone is following about 3-4 parents, and you go to see each one where the baby is coming, and you seem to be taking care of the next one.” deferring to others, you feel it’s difficult.”
Umutoni Ange, who studies at Kibogora Polytechnic, says that he has a unique opportunity to achieve the goals he had set when he was a child, because his family is made up of many children.
