Maternal and child health is a major challenge confronting Nigeria health sector. According to report, Nigeria is the 4th country with the worst maternal mortality ahead of Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Chad.
According to the World Bank estimates, Nigeria’s Maternal Mortality Rate, MMR is as high as 821 per 100,000 live births, followed by Kenya with 540 per 100,000 live births and 8,000 maternal deaths in 2015. Nigeria has a life time risk of maternal death of 4.62 percent, fertility rate of 5.71 and annual births of almost 7 percent. Only 37 percent of births happens in health facilities with skilled healthcare personnel. Out of 303,000 women that died globally due to complications of pregnancy and child births in 2015, 58,000 was from Nigeria and most deaths occur from hypertensive disorders and heamorrhage. Experts reported that out of the maternal deaths which would have been prevented, 99 percent occurred in developing countries in which Nigeria is among the leading countries. As social workers, much efforts are needed to meet Sustainable Development Goals in reducing global MMR to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. To achieve this, timely access to quality medicine, better infrastructure, adequate and skillful personnel would go a long way to prevent women from dying while pregnant or giving birth.
