At 24, Nafisa Salahu nearly became another grim statistic in Nigeria, where a woman dies every seven minutes from childbirth-related complications. Her ordeal began during a doctors’ strike stranded in a hospital with no specialists to assist when her baby became stuck during labor. After three agonizing days, an emergency C-section was performed. She survived; her child did not.
Eleven years later, Salahu has given birth multiple times, each delivery shadowed by trauma. “I knew I was between life and death, but I wasn’t afraid anymore,” she says. Her story is tragically common in Nigeria, the world’s most dangerous place to give birth.
A Global Outlier in Maternal Deaths
Recent UN data reveals Nigeria accounts for 29% of global maternal deaths, with 75,000 women dying yearly—mostly from preventable causes like postpartum hemorrhage, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortions. One in 100 Nigerian women dies during or after childbirth, a rate unmatched elsewhere.
Chinenye Nweze, 36, bled to death in an Onitsha hospital five years ago when blood supplies ran out. “Losing my sister was unbearable,” her brother Henry Edeh recalls. “No enemy should suffer this.”
Why Are Women Dying?
Experts cite a toxic mix of:
Underfunded healthcare (just 5% of Nigeria’s budget, far below the 15% African Union pledge).
Critical shortages: Only 121,000 midwives serve 218 million people; fewer than half of births are attended by skilled professionals.
Cultural barriers: Rural women often distrust hospitals, opting for traditional healers.
Infrastructure gaps: Poor roads, absent ambulances, and clinics lacking basic supplies.
“Going to the hospital feels pointless,” says Jamila Ishaq, 28, who delivered her fourth child at home after being turned away from an understaffed facility.
Glimmers of Hope
Wealthier urban women, like Chinwendu Obiejesi, access private care and survive. But for most, help comes too late—if at all.
In response, Nigeria launched Mamii, a pilot program tracking 400,000 pregnancies across six states to connect women with prenatal care and emergency transport. “We’re ensuring no mother falls through the cracks,” says Dr. Nana Sandah-Abubakar of Nigeria’s Primary Health Care Agency.
A Long Road Ahead
While global maternal deaths fell 40% since 2000, Nigeria’s rate dropped just 13%. UNICEF’s Martin Dohlsten warns progress hinges on “sustained funding and execution.”
For families like Edeh’s, change can’t come soon enough. “My sister was our backbone,” he says. “Now, I cry alone.”
Key Stats:
1 in 100 Nigerian women die in childbirth.
200 mothers lost daily: equivalent to a jetliner crashing every 36 hours.
700,000 more midwives needed to meet WHO standards.
The Takeaway: Nigeria’s crisis is solvable—with political will and global attention. Without urgent action, thousands more will join Salahu in her fatalism: “I knew death was close. I accepted it.”
(Sources: UN Population Division, Nigerian Ministry of Health, UNICEF)
