April 14, 2019
Maternal mortality has become a common menace in our society, especially Nigeria, despite how advanced science has become in today’s world.
You would wonder why this is still happening in 2022, right? Well, you’re about to find out.
When a woman is carrying a child/children, or at the point of delivery, she aims to be healthy for her newborn baby.
Sadly, this is not always the case as several factors come into play during childbirth to either snatch the life of the mother, child or both.
However, we can prevent these deaths with the provision of a working system to influence safe childbirth processes.
Many expectant mothers worry about their safety, and their baby’s when it’s time for delivery, especially when complications set in.
Mothers should not have to worry about their safety and child.
Let’s take a look at what maternal mortality is all about.
When a woman loses her life during or after pregnancy, childbirth and a few days after childbirth, it is termed maternal mortality.
This means maternal mortality usually happens during pregnancy, labour, delivery or forty-two (42 days) after delivery.
The mortality rate has become one of the public health concerns in Africa and several other developing countries.
According to statistics from the World Health Organization(W.H.O), Nigeria has 20% out of the global maternal death.
“Between 2005 and 2015, it is estimated that over 600 000 maternal deaths and no less than 900 000 maternal near-miss cases occurred in the country.”
Despite the administration of several measures to improve the healthcare services for pregnant women, maternal health is still a major issue in the country.
Most of the numbers of death recorded were in the rural and poor communities. Most of these families can’t afford quality healthcare services. Public hospitals also do not have adequate equipment to carry out safe delivery processes for expectant mothers, thereby losing their lives.
You would wonder why there are so many maternal deaths in Nigeria, where there’s an acclaimed health system.
Well, that’s the reality of many families.
You would agree with us that finding out about the cause of a problem is a step in the right direction to getting a solution.
Women lose their lives due to different kinds of complications that occur during pregnancy, labour, delivery and after childbirth.
In Nigeria, the causes of maternal death cut across different areas ranging from cultural practices, age to poverty and more.
Getting adequate knowledge of the causes of maternal mortality can help you prevent its occurrence.
Here are the causes of maternal mortality in Nigeria
1. Socioeconomic status
This cause has a lot to do with the economic status of families who end up losing their loved ones to childbirth. Some quite many women cannot afford basic healthcare services in Nigeria.
How do you think they will survive when complications occur during pregnancy, labour delivery or after delivery?
They probably visit a small and less qualified clinic run by a midwife or senior nurse that works in a government hospital for as low as they can afford.
Illiteracy is another socioeconomic status that leads to an unplanned pregnancy, and nutritional deficiencies.
When a pregnant woman does not feed on the right nutrition needed, her life and child’s may be at risk.
2. Age
Several studies have proven that women in their late thirties, forties or fifties are at more risk during pregnancy than those in their twenties. While young girls under the age of sixteen are at a greater risk.
3. Postpartum Hemorrhage (P.P.H)
P.P.H is the excessive bleeding after childbirth. With a skilled healthcare provider with great service, this situation can be managed.
You must have heard of mothers who have lost their lives due to excessive loss of blood after childbirth because the situation couldn’t be properly managed.
Several women experience this condition in Nigeria, and few were able to survive.
4. Pre-eclampsia (High Blood Pressure) and Eclampsia
This condition has caused the death of so many mothers, especially when they’re detected early.
These issues are easily picked during prenatal care and testing. If a pregnant woman can’t access this care and testing, she’s at risk of losing her life or baby.
Eclampsia is the seizures during pregnancy or after giving birth. It may also occur as a result of untreated preeclampsia.
5. Poor medical facilities
When a pregnant woman cannot get access to good medical facilities, she’s at risk of losing her life.
In Nigeria, most women, especially in rural areas visit primary healthcare centres with little or no facility to manage complications.
6. Infection
Do you know that infection through unsafe abortion, and long labour or unsanitary delivery can cause maternal death?
Ignorance of personal hygiene during and after childbirth causes infection, which eventually leads to death in some cases.
7. Unsafe Abortion
Amongst women who have “unwanted” pregnancies, unsafe abortion is the leading cause of their deaths.
This occurs in both young and older women.
In Nigeria, where abortion is illegals, some visit untrained doctors in a poor healthcare facility to have these abortions.
Some of these abortions lead to complications and eventually death.
According to detailed research done carried out by B.M.C Pregnancy And Childbirth, the causes of these deaths are;
“Haemorrhage is highest (0.80 or 80%) followed by that of eclampsia or pre-eclampsia (0.66 or 66%). Though complications of anaesthesia and surgery may not be categorized among the major causes of death, they are significantly important among the indirect causes, and the risk is also significantly high (0.20).”
These findings all sum up to the lack of access to quality healthcare services due to socioeconomic status and poor primary healthcare facilities in the country.
These findings conclude that lack of access to quality healthcare services due to socioeconomic status and poor primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria is the leading cause of maternal mortality.
Some other factors provided above are also responsible.
How Do We Prevent Or Drastically Reduce Maternal Mortality Rate In Nigeria and Africa?
The responsibility of preventing and reducing these death rates cannot solely be on just the government.
It is evident that in time past, they haven’t been proactive enough to implement proposed working systems to reduce the mortality rate.
From better primary healthcare to improving and providing equipment that would help manage complications when they occur.
1. Sensitization of young women and girls about the implications of unprotected sex. Also, provision of adequate information on birth control to avoid “unwanted” pregnancies.
Educating women on how to carry out personal hygiene during pregnancies and the dangers of infection.
2. Access to improved and quality healthcare services, especially for women that can’ afford it or those in the rural areas.
Promotion of antenatal care and regular check-ups for the mother and child.
Proactive measures like caesarean section should be implemented when vaginal birth threatens the life of the mother or baby.
3. Pregnancy care through the provision and sensitization of proper nutrition that should be introduced during pregnancy.
When women know the nutrients they need, they’ll know how to eat right.
After detailed research on the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria, we realize that the government carry out the responsibility of reducing the death rates. Hence, the creation of the Birthright Foundation.
Our foundation intends to make quality pregnancy and childbirth care accessible to every woman. We aim to achieve this through the several means provided on our website.
At Birthright Foundation, we believe that every pregnant woman deserves to live.
We would like you to visit our website to avail yourself of the extraordinary things we aim to achieve with our foundation.
