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| Source: World Health Organization |
Maternal mortality which is referred to as all death as a result of complications during pregnancy, childbirth and few months after delivery remain one of the global health challenge after the failure of the world league to meet the millennium development goal of reducing global Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) by 75% before the end of 2015. The rate reduced globally by 44% at the end of MDG in 2015 yet no significant reduction country wise. The story has not changed despite the adoption of the goal in the SDG-3a and 3b. MMR in a robust healthcare system of the developed states such as U.S.A (which is ranked the highest among the developed nations) in 2018 was around 17.4 per 100 000 live birth, the rate is 45 plus times higher in developing and low-income nations like Nigeria - 814 per 100 000 estimated in 2020.
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| Source: World Health Organization |
In a situation like this, academia and researchers are bound to engage themselves in rigorous and solution oriented work aimed at understanding the factors playing around this indicator and the best effective solution to curb it. Unlike the developed nations, less than 500 research articles where published till date post MGD, highest of which published in 2020 (78) and only one in this year 2022. Significant of the works believe that there are socioeconomic, education and political factors in addition to health/clinical and professionalism.
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| Source: Dimension; FreshtouStat, February, 2022. |
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| Source: Dimension; FreshtouStat, February, 2022. |
Scholars in this area have laid emphasis on the education and socioeconomic indicators, this two factors reflect the level of development and kind of leadership in a country. However, use of mass media for awareness and orientating women of reproductive age on which we presently have no academic paper to the best of our knowledge, need to be critically examine and adopted in curbing endangering life of our women. In a work done in Egypt to evaluate the effectiveness of their adopted intervention, the researchers - Metwally et al (2020) reported that Mass media gathering, individual teaching at health facilities, printed materials and home based care sessions were provided. The impact of the interventions according to the work was highly reflected on the percent of mothers who received care during their pregnancy period. Proper antenatal care at governmental or private health facilities was raised dramatically from 0.6% to 59.3%. Accordingly, the rate of complications significantly reduced during pregnancy (38.1% to 15.1%), during delivery (24.1% to 13.1%) and during postpartum (81.7% to 7.0%). As an impact to the improvement, there was a marked reduction in adolescent pregnancy by 55% and better birth outcome with a reduction in the percent of stillbirth by 11.5%.
The statistical outcome of the work is highly significant, observing 50% reduction in the complications pre, during and post pregnancy will surely mean a meaningful reduction in MMR. Nigeria having some similarities with Egypt is an assurance that the same method if adopted and effectively done will born similar or better result.
Nigerian researchers should therefore look in that direction and as a result of collaborative studies develop a conceptual framework for the information and behavioural inlet to maternal mortality, and in the end lead to the recommendation of action policies for government.