Why Women in Nigeria Continue to Die in Childbirth

By Chioma Obinna

Healthcare professionals have expressed alarm over Nigeria’s escalating maternal and child mortality crisis, noting that thousands of women die during childbirth each year. The deaths are attributed to inadequate care, delayed arrival at hospitals, and entrenched cultural beliefs.

During the 6th Maternal Health Summit hosted by the Safer Hands Health Initiative (SHI), stakeholders highlighted that, despite years of interventions, grants, and awareness campaigns, Nigeria remains among the world’s worst performers in maternal health.

In an interview with Good Health Weekly, Dr. Oluwakemisola Agoyi, Programme Manager at SHI, described the situation as “really sad.” She emphasized that preventable deaths largely result from women not receiving timely and appropriate care.

“The bulk of why we keep ending up on that poor maternal morbidity ratio is because of the type of care that women receive or are able to access and because of the delays they get,” Agoyi said. “If we are able to provide appropriate care at the appropriate time and the appropriate place, then we will be able to mitigate it.”

Agoyi noted that Nigeria’s shortage of healthcare professionals has forced a greater reliance on community-based attendants and nurses to fill critical gaps in maternal care delivery.

She also highlighted the expanding role of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in improving maternal health outcomes. Digital tools are now helping healthcare workers track pregnancies, predict complications, and follow up with women who miss antenatal appointments.

“Technology can help us to track, monitor and predict things before they happen. You can use text messages to follow up women who miss clinic appointments and digital imaging to detect complications early,” she said.

According to Agoyi, several locally driven innovations presented at the summit demonstrate how AI‑powered biomarker extraction and antenatal monitoring systems are already being deployed in Nigeria.

Dr. Habeeb Moshood, Executive Director of HCA Consults and Project Lead for the summit, told Good Health Weekly that expanding affordable health insurance coverage is one of the most effective ways to reduce maternal and child deaths.

He pointed out that some state governments—including Lagos, Delta, and Ogun—have introduced health insurance schemes that lower out‑of‑pocket spending for pregnant women.

“Health insurance helps in reducing out‑of‑pocket expenses and exposing people to financial catastrophes,” Moshood said.

He called for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector in diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, hospital services, and maternal health research.

“The government cannot do everything alone. What it can do is create a thriving environment for the private sector to operate and grow. When private stakeholders grow, healthcare delivery improves,” he added.

Moshood also blamed deep‑rooted cultural beliefs and misinformation for discouraging many women from seeking proper maternal care.

“Many people have died because they don’t want to do cesarean section because of their cultural belief towards it. We need to explain that it is lifesaving for both the mother and the child. It does not make a woman less of a woman,” he said.

In another interview at the summit, Dr. Orode Doherty, Managing Director of Ingress Health Partners, urged communities to take greater responsibility in preventing maternal deaths by identifying local problems and creating emergency support systems for pregnant women.

“The role of the community is to identify where the problem is and begin to put things in place to solve the problem,” Doherty said.

He explained that communities can reduce deadly delays by organising emergency transportation, supporting pregnant women to access care quickly, and ensuring health facilities are adequately prepared for emergencies.

“We say our pregnant women — there must be no more deaths. What is causing them to die? When communities decide they want to solve that problem, they can solve it,” he added.

The summit brought together healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and development partners to discuss solutions aimed at reducing preventable maternal and child deaths in Nigeria.

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