Maternal-Child mortality: Stakeholders advocate law compelling women to deliver in hospitals

Some health stakeholders in Bauchi state have advocated for the legislation of a law to compel pregnant women to attend antenatal care and be delivered of her baby in health facilities in the state.

The stakeholders, who made the suggestion at a 2-Day High Level Engagement with the State, Local Government Policy Makers and Legislators Toward Improving Sexual Reproductive Health and Right, Maternal Newborn Child Healthcare and Nutrition on Thursday, said the move would help to reduce the rates of Maternal and Child mortality in the state.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the engagement, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi state Primary Healthcare Development Board (BSPHDB), said the Board realized that there were lots of women who attended antenatal care but decided to deliver at home, which he said could lead to complications and contributed to maternal Child mortality in the state.

“The only way to solve this problem is to bring everybody on board and profer solutions.

“One of the suggestions made was that the state should have a legislation that will compel women to attend antenatal and deliver in health facilities.

“If a woman fails to attend antenatal or deliver in a health facility, there should be a penalty either by monetary fines or a jail term because she is jeopardizing the lives of our children and that of herself,” he said.

Also speaking, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, the Chief of Field Office, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said if such a law is made, nobody could stop women from going for antenatal or delivering in the hospital.

Rafique who expressed worry over the high level of maternal-child mortality in the state, said with support from the Canadian Government, UNICEF is embarking on sexual Reproductive Health rights of adolescent girl’s project that focuses on empowering and educating them to become the healthy mothers of the future, which would automatically reduce maternal and child mortality in the state.

She explained that UNICEF is working with health stakeholders, traditional and religious leaders to ensure that women are aware of health services needed to be accessed during pregnancy for safe delivery as well as post delivery services they needed to access.

“We are starting from the root cause and we are working on the access to health services for pregnant mothers.

“A pregnant mother should deliver in a safe environment with quality care which can reduce a lot of newborn and maternal mortality at the same time.

“This advocacy meeting is with all the Bauchi state House of Assembly members with all the 20 Local Government Chairmen in the state, traditional and religious leaders and all the people who are working at the LGA and hospital levels,” she said.

In his statistics presentation, Mr Oluseyi Olosunde, UNICEF’s Health Specialist in the state, said that three out of 10 women deliver in hospital representing 31 percent while the remaining seven which represent 69 percent deliver at home.

On antenatal, he explained that out of 100 women, 57 attend antenatal care while 43 don’t, adding that what to do in order to prevent women from delivering at home and ensure adherence to antenatal activities was the reason for the high level engagement.

Responding, the Speaker, Bauchi state House of Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman said that the people sometimes needed to be forced through a law to access something good for them.

“It has been mentioned here that all these things are their rights and not even a privilege.

“What we are considering is to come up with a law that will force women to adhere to antenatal activities so as to reduce this maternal and child mortality we are facing in the state,” he said.

The High Level Engagement was organized by the state’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare through the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board with support from UNICEF.