My name is Tolu Omooba Akinboye. I am an Animal farmer with a farm in Ogun/Osun State where I breed organic pigs, and poultry.
Although a very busy farmer, I make out time to give back to my community by volunteering with various charities involved in improving healthcare results and statistics in Nigeria. In 2009, I volunteered with a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) focused on reducing Maternal and Infant death in Nigeria and my work with this NGO was a great eye opener for me.
Maternal mortality rate (MMR) is the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes). The MMR includes deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, for a specified year
Maternal health is a critical topic in global development. Maternal ill health and death impacts families, communities, and societies and has far reaching effects across socio-economic strata. Despite recent data showing a positive turning point in the battle to keep mothers alive through pregnancy and childbirth, 342,900 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Every year, more than 133 million babies are born, 90 per cent in low and middle income countries.
Every year, three million 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.
Among the 133 million babies who are born alive each year, 2.8 million die in the first week of life and slightly less than one million in the following three weeks.
Nigeria
Maternal mortality rate: 840 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)
Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is at an unacceptably high level. It is estimated that one in eight women die yearly of pregnancy-related complications.
Nigeria has the second highest rate of maternal death in the world: In Nigeria, approximately one plane load of pregnant women die every day!; with an estimated 608 deaths per 100,000 deliveries, Nigeria ranks second only to India in the list of nations with the worst child mortality.
Every Nigerian is only four (4) persons away from knowing someone that died from child birth alone!!
Women in Nigeria still have an average of six children each, and, according to the 2008 edition of the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey, 20 per cent of married women of reproductive age want to space or limit births, but are not using any method of family planning.
The low usage of family planning services calls for greater private health sector involvement to complement the Nigerian government’s effort in providing family planning and reproductive health services to its citizens.
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. Worst of all is that most husbands leave their wives to suffer the pain alone without providing the care they need.
Nigeria is still battling to achieve regular power supply in the 21st century, a time where virtually every activity of man has gone digital and most hospitals are not excluded from this reign of darkness. Some women are operated upon using candles or kerosene lamps in the theatre.
Most maternal deaths are avoidable, as the health care solutions to prevent or manage the complications are well known.
Therefore, for Nigeria to achieve an accelerated 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.
I also realized in the course of my work that a sizeable percentage of maternal and infant death could be averted if pregnant women and mothers were empowered with information. Yet in Nigeria there remains a low level of information dissemination to pregnant women and nursing mothers especially in rural areas; healthcare information that could assist these women in improving their health, the health of their children and subsequently their survival rates.
On this basis, I and a group of like minded young Nigerians created the Advocacy for Maternal and Infant Health in Nigeria (AMIHIN). AMIHIN is a non-profit making NGO created with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality in poor communities in Nigeria by providing relevant healthcare information and best practice updates to pregnant women and mothers in these communities.
The AMIHIN team comprises of medical and healthcare professionals, lawyers and other career professionals who are intent on contributing to the improvement of Nigerian maternal and infant mortality statistics.
AMIHIN projects currently include:
1. Collation of maternal and infant mortality causal data across the various states in Nigeria.
2. Provision of up-to-date maternal and child care information to pregnant women and mothers using traditional storytelling and cultural dance troupes in communities all over Nigeria. The tour will also include medical professionals who will be on hand to answer questions and provide practical advice
One of the main concerns we have had so far in the course of these projects has been transportation.
I have entered the Ford Ranger Challenge in the hope of winning a Ford Ranger truck which will serve not just as a means of transport on my farm but also a tool for transporting AMIHIN materials and personnel across the country in the course of our various projects.
AMIHIN is my passion and the project I now devote a lot of my time to. The Ford Ranger truck is more than a truck for a simple farmer; it is to us at AMIHIN a truck to facilitate the reduction of maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria.
Help our cause!!
Please Vote Tolu Omooba as Ford Challenge Winner. Go to the link:http://www.fordrangerchallengessa.com/contests/showentry/1011431
Follow us on twitter @amihn2000
For more details or to discuss our work, send a message to us at: amihn2000@gmail.com
