School of Midwifery

The high infant mortality rate and morbidity rate prevalent then was alarming and of great concern to the founders and management of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, yet there were not sufficient trained nurses, or midwives. It was this desire for more and efficient hospital staff that spurred the founder of the hospital, Archbishop Charles Heerey CSSP and the founder of IHM Sisters towards embarking on the training of its own grade two midwives. The School of Midwifery was founded in 1944, by Archbishop Charles Heerey CSSP with the initial intake. In 1948, it was approved and recognized. Before th recognition and approval of the school as a qualified grade two midwifery in 1948, it was not allowed then to send its students for national examination for grade two midwifery certificate rather the Holy Rosary Hospital Emekuku was underwriting the training of grade two midwives by way of presenting and sponsoring the students to the national qualifying examinations as the candidates. This form of co-operation between these two hospitals could be set to stem for the fact that they are both catholic missionary hospitals, and were established for the same purposes. This is enough reasons for optimium co-operation between Emekuku Hospital and Our Lady Lourdes Hospital Ihiala up till toda. Having met the standard requirements to run a grade two midwifery school, by 1948, an approval was given to this school and so, it started sending its students to National Examination. As a result of increasing demands in medical efficiency, growth and developments in Nigerian Hospitals, grade two midwifery training was phased out in known hospitals and grade one midwifery training was introduced.