History of School of Nursing Umuahia

The school of midwifery, umuahia was established in 1955 by the missionaries-joint efforts of the three protestant churches namely anglican,methodist and the presbyterian, with the former queen elizabeth hospital. The first batch of students, twenty four in number commenced training in October of the same year. They were called cadet nurses and the training lasted for two and half years to obtain a grade II midwifery certificate. In october 1958, the training of grade II midwives gave way for the training of grade 1 midwives as approved by the central board of midwives(CBM) of England and Wales and the duration of the training became one and a half years.

From the period of its inception to the outbreak of the civil war,the school was famous and well recognized for the calibre of midwives it produced, and who were easily recognized by the oversea supervisory board. The first principal of the school was Miss Anne Bent,who later became director, midwifery education, royal college of midwives in England. After the civil war, the school continued its all important function of producing quality midwives who would stand the test of time in meeting clients needs in an ever dynamic society for the overall good of families and the health care delivery system. This task has stood till date.

March 1978 witnessed the first admission of direct entry pupil midwives as they were called. Thus training went side by side with the post basic midwifery education.However, it was phased out in 1985 in accordance with directives from the nursing and midwifery council of Nigeria.

Source: somumuahia.com