We Cannot Continue Like This...

The rise of maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is really worrisome to me. I have struggled to write this post and make sense of the situation around but it gets harder by the day. I don't know precisely how the present maternal mortality rate measures against the previous ones but I know that between December and now, I know at least four women who have passed away while giving birth. This shouldn't be so in this day and age and as such should be looked into as quickly as possible. Our babies are losing their mothers, avoidably mostly, as fathers are rendered devastated and confused widowers. 

According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on ‘Trends in maternal mortality: 1990-2013’ Nigeria has been classified as 'one of the 10 countries of the world that contribute about 60 per cent of the world’s maternal mortality burden'. This is rather embarrassingly high and as easy as it is to detach oneself from the reality of these statistics, they aren't just mere numbers but actual human beings being affected as victims. I know there are a great many factors responsible for the high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria, some of which are the flawed mentality of the patients and/or their families concerning religion, ignorance, poverty and so on. A lot also borders on outright recklessness and avoidable errors by the medical personnel. This is by no means a doctor-bashing post, for I know that there are doctors who are very passionate about their profession and patients and who have made a lot of sacrifices to become doctors. The truth is that our medical system needs a complete overhaul starting from the 'mass production of poorly trained doctors' and nurses, to the shortage of adequate medical teams and medical equipment. 

We need more doctors and nurses to speak out on why these blunders are occurring, when they occur and what can be done to avoid them. I think the less cover-ups that goes on after these losses, the better for us all to make proper amends and learn from these mistakes. We simply cannot keep losing young women to avoidable deaths like these, we cannot afford to raise a generation of motherless babies. Something needs to be done ASAP. It makes me pause and wonder how those in the rural areas are coping if the city hospitals cannot even help in reducing these high mortality rates.  :(

Two nights ago, an old friend buzzed me up and when I asked where on earth he had been all this time, he told me he had been in and out of the country. Then he dropped the bombshell of having lost his wife during childbirth a few months ago. She underwent a Cesarean Section and then bled out afterwards. The baby lived, but his dear wife did not make it. He sent me a picture of the wee baby and I wept in shock at the loss. May his wife's soul rest in peace. 

The late pretty Remi Ajatta. Rest in Peace dear.

Then yesterday, I noticed a friend of mine in Luton was distressed and venting on her BBM so I asked her what was going on and once again, I was told the awful news of her friend's passing. Remi had died in a hospital in Abuja while giving birth and tragically, her baby did not survive either. Two of my followers on Twitter drew my attention to her demise again this morning and one went as far as showing me the newly widowed husband's Twitter handle. As I read through his timeline, I simply could not hold back my tears as he expressed his grief about losing his wife, avoidable. Remi had had her first daughter abroad, relocated to Nigeria, gotten pregnant, tried to go to the United States to have this second baby but according to him, the hospital delayed getting her documents ready until the last minutes when she clearly could not fly anymore and so she had no choice but to give birth here in Nigeria and now she is no more. 

  

He claims Remi died due to the negligence and gross incompetence of the hospital and vows to get her justice. He has already contacted a lawyer after the hospital refused to release the wife's file to him. I pray he finds peace and justice and I pray Remi's soul rests in perfect peace. Since this morning, I have heard about so many other cases of clinical errors leading to deaths or near-death experiences. I have had my fair share as well. 

We cannot continue like this. Something needs to give.