Expert Seeks Panacea For Maternal Mortality

A reproductive health expert, Dr Ejike Oji, has called on Nigerians to provide economic empowerment for women as part of measures to reduce high maternal mortality in the country.

Oji made the call in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Oji, who is also the Country Director of Ipas Nigeria, an NGO, said that enhancing the economic status of women would make them to take the right decision on maternal health and reproductive health.

He said that another way of reducing maternal mortality rate in the country was to provide maternal health care services for free.

He said some of the problems militating against the health sector were man-made and called for a change of attitude by all stakeholders.

“We see women who prefer to go to traditional birth attendants instead of going to see the nurses, midwives and doctors at approved hospitals.

“It is not because they cannot afford it. It is because of the way they are treated in the hospitals. The traditional birth attendants treat them much more humanely than the average health care worker that is trained in orthodox medicine. “

He said though the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria had reduced significantly compared with what obtained more than two years ago, a lot still needed to be done to meet the MDGs.

Oji also said that the Midwifery Services Scheme (MSS) could be used to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target on reproductive health.

In his words, “We have a very wonderful mechanism that is in place right now – the midwifery service scheme.

“Even the United Nations has said that it is the best strategy to reduce maternal mortality in the sub-Saharan African region and Nigeria being one of the biggest nations in the region, can make a lot of improvements in their healthcare delivery.

“The gradual fall we are seeing can be attributed to the scheme. But if you look at countries where those schemes are being run, it is just in a cluster of four local governments in every state.

“If it is done in the 774 local governments we have in this country, if that midwifery service scheme is run the way it is designed, I don’t have any doubt that we will meet our millennium development goal targets.”