Maternal Death in Northern Nigeria: What the Community Knows and is Saying

Abstract

Women's death from childbirth is common place in the developing world. WHO, 2017, estimated 67000 maternal deaths for Nigeria.  Principal among the contributing factors to this tragedy is poverty. The growing poverty, especially among women greatly limits women's access to highly needed maternity care. The aim of the study is to identify the views of community of the commonness and causes of maternal death and ways to ameliorate the carnage in Northern Nigeria.

This was a community-based qualitative study undertaken in four states in northern Nigeria: Benue and Plateau states, north central Nigeria; Gombe and Taraba states, north eastern Nigeria. The instruments of the study were: (i) Focus group discussion (FGD) and (ii) Semi-structured interviews (SSI). Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) ethics committee approved the study.  

It was found across the states that maternal deaths were common occurrences.  The deaths were on the increase and often attributed to poverty, ignorance and poor infrastructure.  The majority of the population in the states under study was peasants that generate no surplus. Subsequently, little or nothing is left to pregnant women to access maternity services when needed. There were few sparsely spread functional health care facilities across the states. Furthermore, the health facilities lacked trained staff, were poorly equipped and needed basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and referral systems.  Community engagement is advocated on safe motherhood issues. 

The communities know that maternal death is common and are frequently related to poverty, ignorance and poor infrastructure. The community said they need fertilizer to tackle poverty and maternal deaths among them will drastically reduce.