Exquisite

Maternal, child mortality can be reduced through access to information —Dr Igweze

Dr Ifunanya Igweze is an advocate of convenient and safe maternal healthcare, especially for career women, and founder, Preggify, a tech-enabled health platform. In this interview by NCHETACHI CHUKWUAJAH talks about maternal health, sexual and reproductive health of women among other issues.

How did your journey to ensuring safe maternal healthcare begin?

I have a strong interest in women’s reproductive health which I have communicated through numerous projects since 2017. As a student, I founded Live Mother and Child Initiative, a non-profit organisation with the objective of changing the narrative of the present and future generation of females by empowering them to be independently holistic enough in order to make more informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Through this organisation, which focused on the rural areas in Anambra State, I continuously worked on my dream to empower women and show them that they can be more than what the society already projected them to be. The desire to see women maintain optimum health while excelling in their career has always fueled my ambition to do what I do.

Currently, I am the founder and CEO of Preggify, a tech-enabled health platform that provides middle and high income earning women with access to maternal care that is convenient, timely and safe.

What motivated you to start Preggify?

What prompted me to start Preggify was the reality facing women in Africa. In 2021, one of my clients lost her baby at 38 weeks due to an avoidable cause. This would have been averted if she had access to basic pregnancy education and convenient medical care. Due to her work, she was not able to come to the hospital until the problem became worse which led to her loss.

I know it is easy for someone to blame this woman, but let’s take a look at the current statistics in the country. According to a research published by Jobberman in 2022, seven out of 10 women are likely to resign from their jobs due to pregnancy and childcare related responsibilities. These are not just numbers. They are real women who are skilled but due to the burden of pregnancy and childcare could not continue with their career. Such women may decide to keep their jobs at the expense of their health and pregnancy.

So far, how much impact has Preggify made?

Preggify started in 2022. In less than one year, we have been able to build a community of a thousand women. We have served women in six countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Canada, USA, UK and Niger Republic. We have recorded zero maternal death in the community and have successfully co-managed high risk pregnancies with a better outcome. Due to our impact, we have been featured on several media platforms, radio stations and have won awards.

For us, it is not just about the number; it is about the outcome. When we ask for feedback, what do we get? This is how we measure our impact. As long as the women are satisfied and their lives are made easier with our services, our goal is met. That is the impact for us.

What do we expect from Preggify in the coming years?

In the next three years, Preggify will grow to become the leading one-stop platform that caters for the maternal needs of women in Africa. We expect to build the biggest community supporting career women who are raising their own family. Ultimately, we will be in the forefront of creating a more convenient and safer personalised maternal care for women across Africa. With Preggify, accessing maternal care will be by the click of a button.

What do you think about the high rate of maternal and child mortality in Nigeria?

The maternal mortality rate in Nigeria (512 per 100,000 live births) has not reduced as expected. One of the factors contributing to this is poor access to proper medical information as well as poor access to equipped medical centres during pregnancy-related emergencies.

Apart from the primary delays happening at home due to ignorance, there is also the problem of finding a hospital in your neighbourhood. Most women travel more than two hours to access care in Nigeria. All these contribute to maternal death.

Talking about infant death, the infant mortality rate in Nigeria is worrisome at 56.7 per 1,000 live births. It is even more disheartening to know that most of these causes are preventable. I understand this because my family lost my younger brother to vomiting and diarrhoea before his second birthday.

Do you think there is enough attention and commitment by the government and relevant stakeholders to reduce maternal and child mortality in Nigeria?

Looking at what some state governments are doing, for example in Lagos and Oyo States, I can commend their effort towards fighting this menace.

However, as a nation, the government has not invested significantly in health. As long as the cost of care is paid out-of-pocket, women and children will be cheated out of making an informed decision about their health because these choices are left for the one who can pay for care, usually, the male partner.

One of the factors influencing maternal and neonatal deaths is delay in accessing care. Women who are not financially independent need to obtain their partner’s consent to access care either for themselves or their baby. This can be eliminated if the government invests in national health insurance for all. The government also needs to create more programmes to motivate women, especially women in underserved communities to access proper care when they need it.

Also, the government needs to collaborate with private organisations like Preggify to scale access to maternal care to all and sundry.

How can common child-killer diseases be handled to reduce infant mortality in Nigeria?

The top killer diseases facing under-five children in Nigeria are malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. The good news is that they are highly preventable.

One of the ways to handle this is to popularise preventive measures. Pregnant women should be equipped with adequate education about vaccine preventable-diseases as well as infectious diseases.

A woman who is knowledgeable about why she needs to use insect treated net for her newborn would not risk the baby’s life due to malaria. This also applies to a woman who understands the importance of personal hygiene while handling baby feeding wares.

While it can be capital intensive to revitalise the general healthcare system, it is a lot cheaper to intensify the health education aspect of maternal and child health using the media.

Do you think women’s sexual and reproductive health rights are acknowledged and respected in Nigeria?

Even though technology has become widely accepted in Nigeria, especially in the urban areas, it is disappointing to note that issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health and rights are still viewed from religious or cultural points. Parents shy away from discussing these topics with their young ones. Teachers turn a blind eye when it comes to fostering sex education in schools. An average young person in Nigeria, especially young women are shy to procure sexual products like pads, contraceptives, etc. from pharmaceutical stores.

In 2021, a story of a girl who was arrested in Nigeria for buying a morning-after pill trended on Twitter. This goes to show how difficult it is to access sexual and reproductive health services in Nigeria. We need to advocate for the establishment of youth-friendly services to enable young people access care without fear or prejudice.

The government needs to reinforce policies to empower women to access these services at affordable prices. Parents also have their roles to play, just as teachers. If we all play our roles, women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services will be improved.

With the increasing number of doctors leaving the country for greener pastures, what do you think this portends for Nigeria’s health sector?

It is of interest to note that japa didn’t start today. A good number of our consultants were trained outside the country, although, there is no doubt that the numbers have increased significantly.

For me, I choose to see the “japa syndrome” as an opportunity for innovation, particularly for those staying back in Nigeria. As more doctors are leaving, the country’s talents would be forced to create unique solutions to solve our healthcare problems.

Instead of crying over people leaving which is beyond our control, we can channel resources to develop more tech-enabled solutions, invest in good hospital structures and create a good and thriving environment for other doctors to thrive.

Again, we need to reassess why these ones are leaving. Is it something the government can solve? Whether the japa wave will collapse the already weak healthcare system in the country is not something I can say for sure. However, I am certain that solutions, especially tech-enabled solutions will sprout to cushion this effect and also connect the doctors in diaspora to the patients at home.

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