Fiji’s maternal health care service is in crisis after 500 midwives resigned last year, leaving around 200 to serve a childbearing population of around 300,000 females.

Fiji Nursing Association President Dr. Alisi Vudiniabola says the imbalance is placing significant pressure on the health system and threatening the quality of maternal and reproductive healthcare.

She says that certain essential services are being sacrificed or reduced due to the shortage, after the 500 midwives exited the country in 2023.

The FNA President says the shortage is already having serious consequences, particularly in community and primary healthcare services.

“Young adults, to those, you know, before they reach menopause. So how can you have 200-plus midwives to look after that many people. And you can, you know, you don’t really have to describe the effect of what comes out of that, because you would stop giving or sacrifice or compromise the number of service.”

She adds that despite the growing demand, training opportunities for new midwives remain limited.

“The courses that we have are very limited, like we only have one postgraduate course for midwifery, and we probably turn out around maybe 25 or 30, if we are lucky, because they are sponsored programs by AusAID.”

In response to the comments made by Dr Vudniniabola, Health Ministry’s Acting Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Luisa Cikamatana told FBC News that they were addressing the issue by emphasising the importance of effective management of the available personnel.

“Just like for any team, to see that health cases are covered so you can always prioritize the care according to the severity of the patient.”

Dr. Cikamatana adds the Ministry will focus on expanding training programs and offering better support to midwives.