Women in Ovade community in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta have expressed apprehension over increasing rate of after-birth bleeding by child-bearing women in the community.

They said that the development had led to many maternal deaths in the community and identified patronage of traditional birth attendants by pregnant women in the area as a major cause.

The Ovade women, who spoke to newsmen in Warri, Delta, said the cases of bleeding after birth were because the local birth attendants lacked the competence to handle certain situations.

Mrs Doris Erhijota, a community mobiliser and leader of the women, told newsmen that women in the village depended on the birth attendants because of the absence of public health facility.

According to her, until this year, the community did not have any health centre or maternity and also lacked basic transportation means to get to urban centres for medical care.

She said, “If a woman falls into labour, we will look for a motorcycle that will carry her to Oghara, the headquarters of the local government or to Sapele.

“Motorcycles are the only means of transportation in the community.

“Because of the difficulty in accessing hospitals or other medical facilities, most of us, long ago, resorted to the traditional birth attendants and all my 12 deliveries were through the traditional way.’’

Erhijota explained that the family planning method common in the community was the pill, but added that due to heavy bleeding during menstruation, the women discarded it.

She, however, said that a group of pediatricians and gynaecologists under the auspices of the Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine (NISONM) visited the community recently to educate them on neonatal medical care.

She said that the community was appreciative of the concern of the medical officers, adding that the women welcomed effort by any group towards stopping maternal and infant death in the community.