ADDRESSING MATERNAL MORTALITY ISSUES  

Health authorities must do more to stem the scourge

The scale of maternal mortality in Nigeria has become so alarming that we must call on the health authorities to fashion out a blueprint that will extenuate this pressing challenge. According to UNICEF, no fewer than 40 million women of childbearing age (between 15 and 49 years of age) in the country suffer a disproportionate high level of health issues surrounding birth. “While the country represents 2.4 per cent of the world’s population, it currently contributes 10 per cent of global deaths for pregnant mothers,” UNICEF reports. “Latest figures show a maternal mortality rate of 576 per 100,000 live births, the fourth highest on Earth.”

In its 2023 Progress Report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed 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 woman is one in 22, compared to one in 4900 in developed countries. The report 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 lack cottage hospitals and medical facilities that will address these challenges. Where they exist, there is shortage of manpower, or obsolete medical equipment. Also, instances abound of pregnant women who died 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 in unhealthy conditions 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 in the country, especially in the rural areas.  

State governments must pay adequate attention to primary healthcare system at the grassroots. As it is, most of the states have rendered prostrate local government administration in their states, leaving healthcare delivery at that level comatose. The solution goes beyond mere formulation of policies by the federal government. There should be a framework where states and local governments are held accountable for maternal child healthcare services in their domains.  

We must 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. That many hospitals in the country are without the necessary drugs is a situation that should be addressed. We cannot continue to put the lives of our women at risk. There is urgent 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.