Child Birth: 5 Women Die Daily In Kaduna

No fewer than five maternal mortality rate is recorded in Kaduna state daily, says an expert on reproductive health system, Malam Muhammad Kabir.

Kabir, the State Team Leader of Nigerian Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kaduna.
He said that the figure dropped from six daily previously to five in 2012. 
The expert attributed the steady decline to increased public awareness on reproductive or family planning issues.
According to him, most families are getting aware of reproductive health services, just as some are also embracing child spacing (family planning) techniques in the state. Kabir urged journalists to promote health and medical issues relating to child spacing to stop maternal mortality rate.
“When we bury our wives, daughters, mothers of our children and our sisters, we need to reflect on what we could have done to make pregnancy safer for delivery,” Kabir said.
Dr Joel Adze, a consultant gynaecologist with Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, also urged media practitioners to promote safe motherhood issues as most Nigerians were ignorant of a healthy reproductive system.
The medical consultant urged media practitioners to enlighten the public on the challenges facing the health sector in the country.
Adze urged journalists to raise people’s consciousness on the problems of safe motherhood, always talk about issues militating against service delivery, open channels of communication and create supportive enabling environment for debate.
He said that traditional birth attendants needed training and modern skills in clinical services and referral cases because of their relevance as first contact persons in the primary health care system.
Adze said that an integrated approach would assist stakeholders, including doctors, nurses, the government and community leaders, to provide needed quality and efficient health care delivery services.
“Successful child spacing or family planning policy will also be achieved through this pragmatic approach,” he said.
The consultant said that the strategy would cut operational costs of providing services and ease access to vital prevention, treatment and information services, among other advantages.
Speaking in the same vein, Hajiya Hauwa Yusuf, a retired broadcaster, advised journalists to cultivate interest in health issues and think outside the box to make their reports more elaborate and informative to influence issues.
She urged them to pay particular attention on legal issues affecting health policies, funding and implementation of programmes by government to strengthen the system.
Yusuf also implored them to generate issues, challenges and proffer solutions to enhance the system after accessing information affecting the thematic areas.