Stemming rise in maternal mortality

EVERY year, about half a million women die from complications  of pregnancy, between 100-200 maternal
death per 100,000 births are common in the third world and rates are much higher in rural areas. In contrast, developed countries have 5-10 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
  However, there are major factors that leads to maternal death which are: inadequate health facilities, financial barriers, culture, religion among others, are the causes of maternal death.
  Inadequate health: Most deaths are preventable, yet little has being done to reduce this source of unnecessary suffering and death.
  Policy makers and professionals should improve health care facilities by persevering in making it number one priority in their agenda, especially at the rural areas, because most of the health care facilities available for pregnant women are only found in the urban areas.
  This facility systems are concentrated on urban medical centres, curative system provided by highly trained personnel and modern technology  are urban based.
  World Heath Organisation simply recognises those urban health centres that only serve very few population as “Disease Palaces”. They consume large proportion of a nation’s health budget, yet they serve only a minimized portion of its people.
  A large proportion of the population in developing countries lives in rural areas, it ranges from 70-80% in Africa and asia respectively.
  There are general logistics of financial barriers of rural people using the urban hospitals effectively. consequently, it can be argued that in many rural areas, the delivery services (sometimes modern in nature) by traditional practitioner and over - the  counter availability of antibiotics and medicines in village stores, along with changes in sanitation and nutrition have done more to reduce death rates.
  African leaders especially Nigeria should pay attention to providing health centres in the rural areas, their concentration should not be based only in the urban areas. The urban and rural areas should be carried along in the process of revitalizing health care.
  It is appalling seeing the number of women that loose their lives daily as a result of complications during delivery. the hospitals are doing their best to educate couples on how best to deal with certain situations  before, during and after delivery. The doctors and nurses are doing wonderful jobs, but without good facilities, the best seems not to be enough, both the federal and state government are implored to help in putting the hospitals and health centres in order, for the purpose of giving excellent health services to the women.
  Financial barriers: finance is very important in health service, without finance many things tends to go wrong. A good number of Nigerians do the wrong things not because they don’t know it is wrong but because of poverty. Nigeria is a place where the government hardly care about the health of the masses, lack of finance sometimes makes an educated Nigerian behave as though not educated.
  When a man looks into his pockets and discovers, there is no money to pay for standard health services especially in the case of emergency, the man often times go for the sub-standard medical  services which might not be the right option for the woman but the affordable for the individual.
  In South-East part of Nigeria, the value for male child is quite high and a woman that is yet to have one, would be under pressure from both her husband and in-laws, and having being advised against conceiving by her doctor for her deteriorating health, despite the threat of death to her life, she would want to try having more babies just for a male child, this simple action pose a big threat to the woman’s life.
  Most women often opt for sub-standard health facilities for the sake of helping their husbands cut cost, out of fear of incuring their husband’s wrath, who care less about their welfare, just because she has not been able to bring forth a male child, by so doing, the woman’s life is at risk.
  Religion: Traditional religious people barely use the hospital for delivery, they prefer the traditional system of delivery, which has not been certified safe and hygienic.
  When the need for surgery occur, it would be necessary moving her from the trado-care centre to the hospital, thereby endangering her life and exposing her to more chances of untimely death, albeit Christians sometimes go the wrong way, just because their pastors prohesied that, they would deliver like “the Hebrew women”, this very action go a long way in  making some women not to obey the professional advice  of their doctor, instead they keep professing to giving birth supernaturally and bluntly refusing the surgery.
  A lot of women had lost their lives as a result of ignorance, but the biblical quotation should not blind our sense of reasoning. Faith is not a license for foolishness the same bible also say “wisdom is profitable to direct.”
  Women should understand that for doctors to suggest surgery, he has seen dangers ahead, and all her aim at that point should be, how to save her life and that of her unborn child. Afterall, God knew “man” would need the services of doctors and nurses hence blessing them with the wisdom and knowledge to be able to treat and help people in time of delivery.
  Culture: Many African women disobey their doctors, who know more about their state of health, better than they do.
  African women especially in the rural areas prefer giving birth naturally, rather than going through surgery by Caesarian Section (CS). They would want to prove a point to the public, that they are real women” rather than going through the surgery and save their life by heeding to the professional advice of the doctors.
  Some women can be advised against having more children as earlier mentioned just for a male child and pressure from her husband and in-laws would make her disobey the advice.
  Men should understand that the sex of their child is solely determined by them, because the woman only has XX chromosome while the man has XY chromosome. The Y chromosome  is the one that makes the male child, if the woman receives the Y chromosome from the man to her X chromosome making it XY chromosome, a male child would be delivered by her.
  The women should not be blamed any longer by their husbands for the sex of the children because it is not her fault but the husband’s.