By Ummul Idris
Abuja – Dr Liman Mohammed, a Gynecologist based in Abuja, has decried the high rate of deaths resulting from pregnancy and childbirth in the country.
Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja that about 287,000 women die every year as a result of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth or postpartum across the world.
He noted that almost all 98 per cent of these preventable deaths occur in developing countries.
According to him, the difference in maternal mortality rates between developed and developing countries are the biggest global health inequity today.
He said: “Every year more than 8 million children under five years of age die from preventable causes and many 40 per cent within the first 28 days of life.’’
Mohammed said that concentrating on addressing the direct obstetric causes of maternal mortality was insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
The physician noted that maternal and newborn mortality in low- and middle-income countries was heavily impaired by neglected diseases.
He said “taken together HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are among the leading causes of maternal mortality’’.
He stated that maternal mortality was unacceptably high, adding that about 830 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day.
According to him, it is estimated that in 2015, roughly 303,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth.
“Almost all of these deaths occurred in lost resource settings, and most could have been prevented.
“The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequities in access to health services, and highlights the gap between rich and poor.
“The major complications that account for nearly 75 per cent of all maternal deaths are severe bleeding which is mostly bleeding after childbirth, infections which are usually after childbirth.
“Others include high blood pressure during pregnancy, complications from delivery and unsafe abortion,’’ said the expert.
(NAN)
