Department Of Midwifery

Infant mortality rate and morbidity prevalent at that time were 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 motivated the founder of the hospital, Archbishop Charles Heerey CSSP, and the founder of IHM Sisters to embark 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 the recognition and approval of the school as a qualified grade two midwifery institution in 1948, it was not allowed to send its students for the national examination for a grade two midwifery certificate. Instead, Holy Rosary Hospital Emekuku underwrote the training of grade two midwives by presenting and sponsoring the students for the national qualifying examinations. This cooperation between the two hospitals could be attributed to the fact that they are both Catholic missionary hospitals and were established for similar purposes. This is enough reason for optimum cooperation between Emekuku Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Ihiala up till today.

Having met the standard requirements to run a grade two midwifery school by 1948, approval was given to this school, and it started sending its students to the National Examination. Due to increasing demands for medical efficiency and developments in Nigerian hospitals, grade two midwifery training was phased out in well-established hospitals, and grade one midwifery training was introduced.