Maternal Mortality - the Plight of Local Women

Nigeria as a nation is blessed with both human and natural resources, yet women die everyday from the scourge of maternal mortality. Research has shown that, Nigeria has the second highest rate of maternal death in the world, one in every eight women die while giving birth, most of these death are avoidable as compared to the united state were only one in 4,800 maternal mortality is recorded.

However, one of the millennium development goals is to improve maternal health care which was adopted by the international community at the united nations millennium summit in the year 2000, by achieving 75% drop from the level of maternal mortality in the year 2015. But come to think of it, would this really be possible in this country, where women die from wide range of complications in pregnancy, child birth or postpartum period which in most cases are caused by poor health at conception and lack of adequate care needed for the healthy outcome of the pregnancy for themselves and their babies.

Nigeria as sovereign state is still gasping for a regular power supply in the 21st century a time where virtually every activity of man have gone digital and most hospitals are not excluded from this darkness age being experienced in the country. Some women are operated upon using candles in the theatre or kerosene lamps.

Pregnancy which should be a thing of joy where women experience changes in their body is now seen as a death warrant for most women due to the weak and poor primary health care system and less qualified staff in most rural communities. In the urban areas where some good health services are available they are too expensive or reaching them is too costly.

Every year, more than 133million babies are born, 90% in low and middle income countries, when their mother die, the chance of their survival is meagre. Lack of maternal care is posing a large burden on babies' death and disability among infants. Every year, 3million babies are stillborn. Almost one quarter of these babies die during birth. The causes of these deaths are similar to the cause of maternal death; obstructed or prolonged labour, eclampsia and infection such as syphilis. Poor maternal health and disease that have not been adequately treated before or during pregnancy contribute to intrapartum death but also contribute to many babies born preterm and with low birth weight. Among the 133million babies who are born alive each year, 2.8 million die in the first week of life and slightly less than 1million in the following three weeks.

Therefore for Nigeria to achieve an accelerating success in improving maternal health, quality health system and barriers to access health services must be identified and tackled at all levels, even down to the grassroots. Proper education should be adequately given to pregnant women on how to take care of themselves during pregnancy. Adequate enlightenment campaign should be carried out in the rural areas using the local chiefs and clergies in collaboration with the local media on the importance of Ante-natal care during pregnancy just the way the campaign against polio is being done. During Ante-natal care women are examined in case of complications and also drugs are administered to cater for the health of the mother as well as the foetus in her womb.

In the northern part of the country VVF is very common mostly due to lack of the care needed during pregnancy. And when this occurs their system becomes damaged, carrying out their daily activities becomes difficult, the worst of all is that most husbands leave their wives to suffer the pain alone without providing the care they need.

Pregnancy and Childbirth
Most maternal death are avoidable, as the health care solutions to prevent or managed the complications are well known. Since complications are not predictable, all women need care from skilled health professionals especially at birth, when rapid treatment can make a difference between life and death.

Nigerian government should try and put smiles on the faces of women especially the rural dwellers by putting different measures in place to cater for their health, money should not be a deterrent in procuring a good health in Nigeria.

Hawwa Baba Muhammad,

400 Level Mass Com,

Bayero University, Kano.

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