Author: Rasheed Yusuf, Director, Public Policy, Advocacy, Innovation, Research and Development
Nigeria bears a disproportionate share of the world’s maternal deaths nearly one in five. Yet the solution is not simply more antenatal visits. It is better quality care within them.
Mamacare360, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s flagship maternal health education programme, has reached over 71,000 pregnant women across more than 60 healthcare facilities in Nigeria. Delivered by trained midwives and embedded within routine antenatal services, it is already demonstrating what structured, community-based maternal education can achieve at scale.
This policy brief presents findings from a rigorous benchmarking analysis of Mamacare360 against WHO and NICE international antenatal care standards. It shows where the programme leads, where gaps remain, and what targeted investments in mental health integration, diagnostics, and partner engagement could do not just for Mamacare360, but for Nigeria’s national maternal health strategy.
The evidence points in one direction: Mamacare360 is ready to become Nigeria’s national standard for antenatal education. What is needed now is the policy commitment to make it so.
