The Lagos State Government is developing a state-owned framework to improve emergency care for pregnant women and newborns as part of efforts to reduce preventable deaths.
The proposed framework will focus on strengthening healthcare workers’ skills, improving coordination among medical teams, ensuring functional health facilities and promoting sustainable delivery of emergency obstetric and neonatal services.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ engagement and technical co-creation workshop held from November 10 to 12, 2026, at Protea Hotel, Alausa-Ikeja.
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The workshop was organised by the state Ministry of Health in collaboration with Training for Emergency Action, Management and Workflows in Midwifery, Obstetrics and Neonatal Care (TEAM OB/NEO).
Delivering the keynote address, Ogunyemi identified postpartum haemorrhage, eclampsia and complications associated with prematurity as persistent threats to maternal and newborn survival, despite government investments in healthcare.
She said Lagos faced additional pressure from its growing population and the influx of people from other states, including pregnant women seeking specialised maternity services.
According to her, the situation makes it necessary to strengthen the state’s healthcare system and improve its capacity to respond to obstetric and neonatal emergencies.
Ogunyemi advocated an integrated approach involving competency-based training, simulation exercises, standardised clinical procedures, multidisciplinary teamwork, mentorship and functional emergency response systems.
She outlined six priorities for implementing the framework: government ownership and sustainability, practical capacity development, facility readiness, standardised clinical practices, data-driven accountability and stakeholder coordination.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Dayo Lajide, represented by the Director of Family Health and Nutrition, Dr Abosede Wellington, described the engagement as an opportunity to translate existing government commitments into a coordinated and sustainable action plan.
Lajide stressed that reducing avoidable maternal and newborn deaths required more than access to healthcare facilities, noting that skilled health workers, clear clinical protocols, teamwork, functional equipment and essential medicines were equally important.
She urged participants to develop practical recommendations that reflected the challenges and operational realities of healthcare facilities across Lagos State.
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