A non-governmental organization, Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC), on Saturday in Lagos launched a campaign to reverse the negative profile of Nigeria as the country with the largest number of women who die during childbirth, saying its set – plan through the campaign was to assist 5,000 vulnerable pregnant women that can’t afford safe delivery in the communities.
Speaking at a campaign tagged: ‘Run/Jogging to create awareness on maternal mortality and health for pregnant women, the Founder and Chairperson of the NGO, Prof Bosede Afolabi, sadly noted that the number of deaths recorded in the country from pregnancy and childbirth was more than that of India with five times Nigeria’s population, said plans were on to rescue the situation.
Prof. Afolabi said a total of 300 pregnant women had been registered “even before the beginning of this campaign, and we are going on,” adding that the organization had “employed community health workers to help register them, follow them up, ensure they deliver and follow them up after delivery so that they can be safe and so that their children can be safe too.”
“A lot of the Primary Health Centres are signed up, but on our website, if you just go to the contact on our website, you would see where to go. The programme itself is called Mama-based Intervention. Mama for mother and based is for data because it is data based.
“We are also going to other states for this awareness programme. Absolutely, my life mission is to reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria, I am tired, we are all tired. We’ve been saying the same thing for decades, it’s time actually to start doing something active about it,” she said.
Afolabi, who is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, while noting the poor state of hospitals in the country, which she said the government was working on due to agitations from quarters, pointed out that the campaign by the body led by her was a culmination of 1-month long programme to raise awareness and funds to reduce to the bearest minimum maternity mortality in the country.
Speaking further, Prof. Afolabi sadly recalled that in 2020, 82,000 Nigerian women died of pregnancy and childbirth, saying that the figure was about three times more than that “in India and India is about five times our population.”
Afolabi said it was important for Nigeria to reduce such figures if India could reduce their, even as she pointed out that in high-income countries, the total number of women dying of pregnancy and childbirth was usually less than 20 in one year.
“If India could reduce their own, it is important for us to reduce our own. In high-income countries, the total number of women dying of pregnancy and childbirth is usually less than 10 sometimes or less than 20 in one year, but for us, 82,000 is too much- 225 women die daily.
“This campaign is one to actually let people know so that people can be aware and people can be more helpful to pregnant women and let pregnant women know that they should go to the hospital to deliver.
“They shouldn’t stay at home, they shouldn’t go to somebody that is not skilled. This is because it is those giving birth under people who are not skilled who are mostly affected.
So, a lot of women would deliver normally without problems, but for the ones that would have problems, there is no way you can know.
“So if a woman suddenly delivers at ‘Aunti Nurse’s place’ or ‘Alagbo’s place’ and she starts bleeding, there is nothing you can do, you know, unlike a hospital where you know what we can do,'” she stated.
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeji Ibekwe, said the Foundation is partnering with MRHRC to reduce the maternal mortality rate in the country.
Ibekwe said the walk being undertaken for the day was targeted at assisting 5,000 pregnant women, adding: “We want to ensure that women do not have to die during childbirth in the country.”
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