•Health authorities could do more to contain the scourge

That five of every 1000 Nigerian women die while delivering their babies is alarming. Latest statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveal that Nigeria accounts for over 34 per cent of global maternal deaths while the lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, or after an abortion for a Nigerian woman is one in 22, compared to one in 4,900 in developed countries. The scale of maternal mortality in Nigeria has become so worrying that we must call on the health authorities to fashion out a blueprint that will extenuate this pressing challenge.

The WHO report, ‘improving maternal and newborn health and survival and reducing stillbirth: Progress Report 2023’ ranked Nigeria as accounting for the second-highest number of maternal and child deaths globally, after India. In 2020, according to the report, 788 women and children died ‘per thousand’ in India and 540 women and children ‘per thousand’ died in Nigeria. In the same year, India accounted for 17 per cent of global maternal, and neonatal deaths and stillbirths, while Nigeria accounted for 12 per cent.

The challenge at hand goes beyond what the federal government can handle. Unfortunately, many of the rural communities in the 36 states of our country lack cottage hospitals and medical facilities that will address these challenges. Where they exist, there is shortage of manpower, and obsolete medical equipment. Instances abound of pregnant women who have had to die in the process of commuting from their homes to a medical facility.

Yet when a pregnant woman avoids prenatal care, she puts herself under the risk of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), a complication arising from childbirth, which can result in a fatal outcome. Besides, women who do not have access to healthcare are prone to unassisted delivery carried out by quack midwives with dire consequences for both the mother and foetus. To address this serious public health issue, we must begin to examine how to mitigate the acute poverty that has become the lot of our people, especially in the rural areas.

However, we must put part of the blame on the state governments and the lack of attention by many of them to primary health care system at the grassroots. It is even worse that most of them have rendered prostrate the local government administration, leaving healthcare delivery at that level comatose. The solution therefore goes beyond mere formulation of some policies by the federal government. There should be a framework where states and local governments are held accountable for maternal child health care services in their domains.

The authorities, at both the federal and the states, should also find ways to cushion the economic burden on most of the women who dwell in the rural areas, as that has been identified as the reason for their inability to afford quality prenatal and post-natal care. There should be a special focus on maternal, newborn and child health. Hospitals without the necessary drugs and other necessary facilities require urgent attention. We cannot continue to put the lives of our women at risk.

There is need to go beyond rhetoric and promises, to actionable plans to address the existing gaps in the primary health sector. We must end the agony and tears of mothers who carry pregnancy for nine months only to die at the point of delivery.

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