Safe Mothers, Safe Children

+Nigerian Children Against the World

The Nigerian government has approved funds to combat maternal and infant mortality rate according to a report.

The purpose of this intervention is to reduce the number of maternal and child mortality cases in the Nigerian health care system, and to provide equal access to healthcare service especially for women and children in accordance with the SDG goals. 

According to the World Health Organisation (W.H.O,) maternal mortality refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period, while the  infant mortality rate is the probability of a child born in a specific year or period dying before reaching the age of one. It is the total number of infant deaths per 1,000 births.

Nigeria Tops Global Maternal Mortality Chart

Trend data shows there is a high incidence of women of child bearing age losing their lives due to pregnancy and postnatal complications in Nigeria.

In fact, Nigeria leads the world in rates of maternal mortality in absolute terms with nearly 82,000 deaths in 2020. In terms of maternal deaths per 100,000 births, Nigeria ranks third only to Chad – its neighbour to the north – and South Sudan.

Nigerian Children Against the World

The situation regarding child mortality is just as sobering. 

2023 data from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) shows that there are 55.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the country. Broken down by gender, 60 in 1,000 male infants lose their lives before the age of one, while 50 in 1,000 female babies suffer like fate. 

The World Health Organisation (W.H.O) attributes some causes of infant mortality to neonatal disorder, malaria, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection, pre-term complications, malnutrition among others as factors influencing infant mortality.