Life is a gift precious beyond any words can describe. In the process of giving life, no woman should have to die.
In Nigeria, the sanctity of life is most times a matter of words, an abstract concept which hardly ever translates into reality.
In 2009, a decade after Nigeria’s triumphant return to democracy, Boko Haram arose with a peculiar but virulent brand of terrorism. Having openly declared Western Education and, by extension, civilization a sin, the group proceeded to reduce lives, livelihoods, and buildings to dust.
The killing spree has since spanned many years, tearing through Northern Nigeria with startling ferocity and setting the rest of Nigeria on edge.
Boko Haram has also had the far more deleterious effect of watering the grounds for terrorists to proliferate their activities in Nigeria.
As these truly horrendous attacks have continued, women and children have very much been in the of the storm. Countless terrorists attacks have directly and indirectly targeted Nigeria’s most vulnerable demographics.
Perhaps, it is a measure of the innumerable threats women face that apart from the danger posed by terrorists, there appears to be danger everywhere.
Nigeria is the country with the third-highest rate of maternal mortality in the world. This was recently disclosed by Ulla Mueller, who is the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Nigeria.
The statement was as a prelude to the World Population Day which was celebrated on July 11.
According to Mueller, complications associated with complications associated with pregnancy and labour continue to be the leading cause of maternal mortality.
The statistics well and truly break the heart. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa says that one in seven global maternal deaths occurs in Nigeria. That surpasses 50,000 women dying per year in Nigeria.
Health experts, however, say about 95 percent of deaths during childbirth are preventable.
But how can they be prevented and what must be done to prevent a crisis which sees many a birth stool become a deathbed.
According to Ulla Mueller, recognizing and enforcing the sexual reproductive health right of women and girls is critical to lasting improvement of these morbid statistics.
A lot of It also has to do with achieving Gender Equality which is the Sustainable Development Goal Number 5 of the United Nations.
For women to cease moving from the birthing stool to funeral homes, the role of gender equality cannot be overemphasized.
Gender inequality limits access to healthcare and economic opportunities and ensures that many women find no joy on the birthing stool.
For the World Health Organization (WHO), improving maternal health is one of a key priority. WHO works to contribute to the reduction of maternal mortality by increasing research evidence, providing evidence-based clinical and programmatic guidance, setting global standards, and providing technical support to Member States on developing and implementing effective policy and programs.
The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequalities in access to quality health services and highlights the gap between rich and poor. The MMR in low-income countries in 2020 was 430 per 100 000 live births, versus 12 per 100 000 live births in high-income countries.
Women in low-income countries have a higher lifetime risk of maternal death. A woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old woman will eventually die from a maternal cause. In high-income countries, this is 1 in 5300, versus 1 in 49 in low-income countries.
As defined in the Strategies toward ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM) and ending preventable maternal mortality: a renewed focus for improving maternal and newborn health and well-being, WHO is working with partners in supporting countries towards addressing inequalities in access to and quality of reproductive, maternal and newborn health care services; ensuring universal health coverage for comprehensive reproductive, maternal and newborn health care; addressing all causes of maternal mortality, reproductive and maternal morbidities, and related disabilities; strengthening health systems to collect high-quality data to respond to the needs and priorities of women and girls; and ensuring accountability to improve quality of care and equity.
No woman or child you have to die during birth. To arrest this heartbreaking trend, nothing should be spared anywhere.
Ike Willie-Nwobu
Ikewilly9@gmail.com
