Disturbed by the rising cases of maternal mortality in the country, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Maternal Reproductive Health (MRH) Research Collective, with support of Sterling One Foundation, has decided to support and fund 5,000 vulnerable pregnant women who couldn’t afford healthcare service.

According to the founder, MRH Research Collective, Prof. Bosede Afolabi, who spoke after the 5kilometre run for the 5,000 pregnant women in Lagos Island, said: “This project is to reduce the numbers of Nigerian pregnant women dying from pregnancy and childbirth because they couldn’t access healthcare services for safe delivery.

Afolabi, a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, lamented that much efforts have not been made towards improving the maternal mortality in the country, urging stakeholders to increase awareness on how to further minimise the cases.

She argued that one of the actual causes for high rate maternal mortality is that women are not delivering in healthcare facilities.

She said: “In 2020, 82,000 pregnant Nigerian women die of pregnancy and childbirth. It is about three times more than India and India is about five times our population. So, if India could reduce theirs, it is important for us to reduce ours. We are also letting the pregnant women know that they should go to hospital to deliver; they shouldn’t stay at home or somewhere where they are not skilled because a lot of women will die from visiting people that are not skilled.”

The don explained that the awareness campaign is a testament of her foundation’s commitment to reducing the growing numbers of death recorded yearly from maternal mortality.

In her remarks, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe, stressed the need for the society to prioritise pregnant women.

She said: “Saving women’s lives is saving the society, because as long as we keep them alive, the society is alive.

“Today, we are having 5 km run for 5,000 pregnant women. Statistics revealed that between 2005 and 2015, we lost 600,000 women in Nigeria during childbirth. It is a very scary statistic and today we still have over 80,000 pregnant women dying in Nigeria,” she stated.

She called on wealthy individuals to support pregnant women by providing financial assistance to allow them access healthcare services.