Innovative solutions as panacea for Nigeria’s maternal health challenges
Stakeholders in the health sector have harped on the need to scale up innovative solutions to address the maternal health challenges bedeviling the country.
They stated this yesterday during the National Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health organised by Nigeria Health Watch with the theme: “Scaling Maternal Health Innovations in Nigeria: Learning, Challenges and Opportunities”.
They said the reduction rate of maternal deaths had been slow and that there was the need to scale up innovative solutions towards addressing it.
Maternal mortality is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.
The causes of maternal mortality are haemorrhage (bleeding after childbirth), infection, eclampsia, unsafe abortion, obstructed labour, malaria and anaemia.
Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO’s Nigeria Country Representative, said it was important to remember pregnant women that were currently experiencing humanitarian crisis in the North East of Nigeria and other places when planning to address maternal deaths.
He said, “So, it’s very important that when we plan to address maternal deaths, we should remember to prioritise those experiencing humanitarian crises like in the North East of Nigeria and other places as part of our strategy. I believe it is also part of what we see under the Health Sector Renewal
Investment Initiative.”
While calling for access to essential, safe quality vaccines for pregnant, lactating women, mothers and new born babies, he said it would all require an aggressive approach.
He urged all departments of the government, not just health, to come on board with innovations so as to address maternal health challenges.
He said, “In fact, the other departments outside health have control of 70 per cent of what it will take to address maternal mortality.
“So, I will like to call on all stakeholders, government, civil society, community themselves, to rally beyond the government leadership in its priority and efforts to accelerate progress in addressing preventable maternal mortality and child mortality. I believe it’s worth it. It’s about commitment. It’s about revisiting governance, it’s about deliberate action to do things differently.”
He said there we0re new innovative ideas that could accelerate progress against maternal mortality.
“We just need to stop doing things as usual,” he added.
Dr Salma Anas, Special Adviser to the President on Health, said the current administration was very committed to addressing the country’s poor maternal health indices.
Dr Salma said, “This administration remains committed to ensure that no woman dies as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. It is a priority and vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope health agenda.”
She further said that the policy direction of the agenda was to reduce maternal mortality ratio from 512 per 100,000 live births by 35 per cent, reduce Total Fertility Rate from 5.4 by 20 per cent and reduce neonatal mortality rate from 38 per 1,000 live births by 40 per cent.
She said, “So, I call on all the partners that are here to work in that direction, because the only way we can achieve success is doing something differently, and in an aggressive manner. And if you target every pregnant woman today, for quality services, you can see the difference in the next nine months.”
The Managing Director (MD) of Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, said maternal health was a fundamental aspect of public health reflecting the wellbeing of current and future generations.
She said the degree of care and attention a country devoted to maternal health such as safeguarding women’s health and wellbeing throughout pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period often demonstrated how much it valued its people.
She further said, “The challenges we face in this area are profound, as maternal mortality remains a significant issue, particularly in Nigeria and the broader African region. According to WHO, Africa accounts for more than two-third of maternal deaths globally. In Nigeria, our maternal mortality ratio was at an alarming 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions.
“As we know, according to NDHS (2018), less than half of all deliveries in Nigeria are assisted by skilled providers, with a significant portion of deliveries assisted by unskilled providers or women not receiving assistance at all.”
While noting that the statistics starkly illustrated the disparities between our current health outcomes and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births, she said many women faced delays in seeking maternal healthcare due to socio-cultural and systemic barriers, financial constraints and inadequate transportation infrastructure.
She stressed that amid the challenges, there was hope innovations in digital health, telehealth and evidence-based approaches like the E-MOTIVE bundle of care to address postpartum haemorrhage looked promising to improve maternal outcomes.
She further said the innovations not only addressed existing gaps, but also paved the way for more resilient and effective maternal healthcare systems in Nigeria.
She said, “Innovation does not always mean creating something new, it can also involve doing existing things in a different way.”
A Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Professor Hadiza Galadanci, said the adoption of the E-MOTIVE strategy showed that it was effective in tackling postpartum hermohage and addressing maternal mortality.
She said, “Early detection and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage using the @WHO MOTIVE ‘First Response’ bundle is the key to reducing the thousands of women who die from excessive bleeding.”