It is said that the joy of pregnancy is in safe delivery. But this joy has never been felt by many who end up losing their lives in the course of childbirth. CHIBUNMA UKWU writes that education and proper training could put an end to the ugly development.
Despite the technological advancement in healthcare delivery, Nigeria has remained one of the countries noted for her avoidably high maternal mortality. Although the government has been making efforts to control this, curbing maternal deaths has proven to be a task which everyone must contribute to.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered that the negative attitude of most Nigerians to healthcare delivery might be one of the factors responsible for the surge in maternal deaths.
According to an Abuja-based medical practitioner, Dr. Salawo Mohammed, due to a lack of sex education, young people indulge in risky sexual behaviour which expose them to diseases, and in cases where pregnancies occur, some of the youngwomen do not know what it is or the need for ante-natal care.
“There are some risk factors in pregnancies that can be easily detected and managed during the ante- natal stage. An example is the case of pregnancy-induced hypertension which leads to convulsion and finally, death, if not handled with care. There is also pregnancy-induced diabetes which is also very dangerous and which certainly leads to serious problems, if not detected and managed during the ante-natal period. There are certain things which every pregnant woman ought to observe at different stages of her condition, but most of them do not observe this,due to a lack of education,” Dr. Mohammed said.
Mohammed, a practitioner with Dawaki Medical Center, Bwari, Abuja, further explained that after childbirth, women continue to have sex with their husbands, and that though this is not wrong,the lack of sexual education still poses a problem.
“after pregnancy, a woman will not stop having sexual intercourse with the husband, but in situations where conception occurs, they ought to terminate it. Now, the mode, place and time in which a conception is terminated could equally pose more dangers to the mother,” he said.
Though the use of contraceptives could be of great help in this regard, Mohammed maintained his stand on education.”Contraceptives will only work effectively if used with knowledge, since each of them has its negative effects.”
Dr. Onyinye Amuh of the Peace Care Clinic and Maternity, Abuja, believes that the government has put in efforts in this regard, but that such efforts have left much to be desired, as most women from the grassroots have refused to see the need to take ante- natal care services seriously. “You can see this in the way pregnant women present themselves late to the hospitals for healthcare services. It tells you that they are, kind of, forced.”
Amuh agreed that the cost of such services are a contributing factor to the refusal of women to partake in ante-natal classes organised by hospitals.
“ In the rural areas where maternal deaths are higher, most women prefer patronising traditional birth attendants, so as to get healthcare services at a cheaper rate, and at the end of the day, they get infected. These women are unskilled, because they are not professionally trained, so they end up mishandling things and the pregnant women develop complications while being delivered of their babies. True, some patronise the teaching hospitals when things get worse, it is, in most cases, late for any reasonable help to be rendered,” she said.
On how best this issue could be tackled, Amuh suggested that the government needs to identify with the traditional birth attendants it can’t risk working without, since their services are still relevant, especially, in rural areas.Amuh also encouraged the government to train these traditional health attendants properly, such that they could always refer to the teaching hospitals when confronted with situations beyond them.
Stressing the effects of maternal deaths on families and the society, a pharmacist who declined stating her name said that the trauma which maternal deaths cause families cannot be over- emphasised. According to her, women play great roles in their families (which include meeting the psychological needs of the children), and if in her absence the husband is not strong and responsible enough to train the children properly, they grow up to become a threat to the society. For this reason, she called on medical personnel to be more committed to their duties.
“Child delivery is supposed to be a natural process. If handled properly, most deliveries will be successful, but experience has shown that some nurses and midwives go about their duties in a wicked manner.
“I have seen most of them turn deaf ears to the cry of women in labour with such words as ‘don’t mind her.’ The fact that this habit has become commonplace in most health delivery centres in the country, that does not make it right,” she said.
She also advocated for more training for the hospital staff, and said that when medical personnel are trained, they get to handle pregnant women differently during pre, ante and post-natal, and where complications are detected, the woman could be delivered of her baby through a caesarian section, rather than subjecting herself to a labour which may not end well.
An official of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) who also pleaded anonymity affirmed that maternal deaths have remained high in the country, despite the efforts of the government to improve maternal and child health. He, however, revealed that the government is not relenting in finding solutions that will reduce maternal deaths in the nation, if not stopping it entirely. According to him, one of the measures the government adopted included the introduction of the mid-wives service scheme (MSS), a programme which mobilises unemployed and retired midwives for deployment to selected primary health care centers in the rural areas where they can skillfully attend to pregnant women, and help reduce maternal mortality in the country.
He also stated that the government had further strenghtened this service by training most traditional birth attendants and volunteers (who will man the vehicles to ease transportation of women in labour to care centres) to be drafted to far-flung rural communities.
On the financing of the programme, the official stated that though the government is putting measures in place, it greatly depends on the local governments and the state officers of the federal ministry of health for financial supports.
The official expressed hope that though in future maternal death would become a forgotten issue in Nigeria, hospital staff must be highly committed to their duties.
“Also, awareness should always be created at all levels, as it will enhance the enlightenment of the people on the state of pregnant women. Above all, the government should monitor the situation to ensure standardised operation in hospitals,” he said.
http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/9573/2011/12/04/curbing_maternal_deaths_through_education.html
