Adeola Adeyemo
Pregnancy and childbirth is supposed to be a thing of joy but unfortunately for many Nigerian women and families, it becomes a time of sorrow and mourning when it results in the loss of a life or two. Such was the situation with the family of a 46-year-old tipper driver, Yesiru Ajayi, whose wife died during cesarean operation at a private hospital, Iyaniwura Medical Centre of Mowe area in Ogun state on the 25th of October, 2013. Mr. Ajayi lost his beloved wife and baby. His deceased wife, Rashidat, was formerly registered with the Sagamu General Hospital but had to move to a private hospital due to the strike embarked upon by the doctors.
High maternal mortality rates is a significant health issue facing many Nigerian families. This distressing fact is compounded by findings which show that Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and is in fact contributing roughly 10 percent of the total
world estimate of maternal deaths.
A recent report by UN and World Bank shows that 166 women die in Nigeria daily from pregnancy and childbirth complications, an increase from the 2010 statistics of 144 deaths daily. A similar study also revealed that in every 10 minutes, a Nigerian woman dies as a result of complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Countless numbers of other women are disabled in birth related accidents on yearly basis. The statistics are causes to worry about and the numbers of deaths stiffening. For every woman that dies, 15 – 20 other women suffer short or long-term disabilities among which are obstetric fistulae, ruptured uterus, paralysis and other
complications.
Experts have said that the high mortality rate in Nigeria can be attributed to many factors such as poverty, malnutrition, traditional belief, ignorance accessibility to hospitals, inadequate circulation of health personnel and inadequate health facilities, carelessness of obstetricians and health personnel among many others. The major pregnancy complications include excessive bleeding (or haemorrhage), infections, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure leading to convulsions, unsafe abortion, malaria, and obstructed labour.
Mr Ajayi is not alone. His story is similar to that of Kunle Thompson, but in his case, the baby survived. “I lost my wife during childbirth despite the fact that she received antenatal care,” he recounts sadly. “The baby is alive but my beloved wife is gone. Each time I set my eyes on the baby, I feel guilty for getting my wife pregnant. Atinuike my wife lost so much blood after
delivery that we bought six pints of blood to rescue her life but all to no avail. I cried and mourned day and night for couple of weeks but my wife is gone forever.”
Another woman who lost her baby, Hadiza Ibraheem, a 29-year-old house wife who lives in Nyanya Gwandara, off the busy Abuja -Keffi highway has a her own story to tell. According to the mother of two, she lost her eight months pregnancy to negligence. “Initially, when I got pregnant, I started taking some herbal concoctions on the recommendations of my mother in
law,” she said. “As the pregnancy progressed, I did not attend the mandatory antenatal program at the hospital because we did not see any need to attend, especially when my husband told me that none of his family members ever gave birth in the hospital, as all his sisters gave birth at home with the aid of a local midwife.”
Maternal death, according to the World Health Organization is the “death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”
The World Health Organization and UNICEF also showed that “a Nigerian woman has a 1-in-18 risk of dying in childbirth or from pregnancy-related causes during her lifetime, which is higher than the overall 1-in-22 risk for women throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Nigeria remains negligence and some womens’ preference for traditional methods of delivery.
Reacting to the loss of Mrs Ibraheem’s baby, Dr. Bello Abdul, a consultant gynecologist at the New Light Hospital, Mararaba said it could have been avoided. “Hadiza lost her baby because she was not properly taken care of,” he said. “Her baby was breeched, and if she had attended the mandatory ante natal care programme, it would have been discovered on time and
properly managed.”
A consultant gynaecologist and Managing Director of Grace Specialist Hospital Lagos, James Omokiri while speaking on the rate of maternal death in the country said the government must intensify its efforts to curb the problem.
“As doctors, we are doing our part, but more needs to be done to help us,” Mr Omokiri said. “The problems of delays in assessing health care, outdated and non-functioning equipment must be taken care of. Pregnant women should be able to get help whenever they need it and the hospitals should be conducive enough for them.”
His stance reiterates the problem of poor services most women have with the public health system. A pregnant woman who simply gave her name as Margaret said that the unpleasant conditions in most government owned hospitals actually encourage most women to seek the assistance of local midwives who in most cases complicate issues. She said her experience at Wuse General Hospital is unpleasant due to long queues and added that most pregnant women who get to the hospital as early as 6: 30 am will usually be seen as late as 12 noon and beyond which according to her discourages some women from going to the hospital for antenatal treatment.
Although President Goodluck Jonathan said at a recent inauguration of Otuoke Comprehensive Cottage Hospital in Bayelsa state that maternal mortality rates has dropped by 30 percent in the last four years, the rates are still alarming as the the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria said recently that “no fewer than 11,600 maternal deaths were recorded in Nigeria in the last three months” adding that “45 cases were recorded daily.”
This article was first published by TelegraphNG
Photo Credit: Kevin Murray Via Getty Images
