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Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: Trend, Triggers and Implications for Sustainable Development

Received: 23 October 2019     Accepted: 20 November 2019     Published: 3 September 2020
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Abstract

Sustainable development has been a major aspiration of many developing countries, including Nigeria. However, the incidence of maternal mortality in the country has elicited serious concerns from all stake holders. This paper attempts to examine the incidence of maternal mortality in Nigeria, its trend and triggers with a view to appraising its implications for sustainable development. The study utilized secondary data obtained from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2015. The research indicates the existence of high maternal mortality in Nigeria, in spite of various government interventions in the health sector. The reasons ascribed for this situation include: poor health management; poverty, unemployment, poor access to health facilities, high illiteracy level and ignorance especially among rural dwellers, pathological causes, corruption, poor gender relations, and dearth of project management expertise. Implications for sustainable development revealed by the study include: Late/low school enrollment, absence of maternal care, increased poverty, waste of the nation’s non-renewable resources, productivity impairment and slowed Gross Domestic Product growth rate. The paper therefore recommends that the government should strongly fight corruption and enforce the nine years of universal basic education, ensure comprehensive health management, craft an inclusive theory of consumption, intensify public sensitization especially for rural dwellers and hone the project management skills of health workers. Finally, government needs to intensify campaign for gender equality in order to improve female-confidence and voice in the society while also making health facilities and processes more public-friendly with a view to facilitating access to pre- and post-natal services.

Published in American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18
Page(s) 135-143
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Maternal Mortality, Wicked Problem, Sustainable Development, Nigeria

References
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[4] Amankwah, A. A. (2009). Ghana: MDGs Coalition Strive to Improve Maternal Health. This Day. allafrica.com. Retrieved on 07/04/2010.
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[6] Guerrier, G., Oluyide, B., Keramarou, M., & Grais, R. (2013). High maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Northern Nigeria: an 8-month observational study. International Journal of Women's Health, 5, 495-499.
[7] Hanson, D. (2010). Data on Maternal Mortality: Historical information compiled for 14 countries (up to 200 years).
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[10] Lindros A, Lukkainen A (2004). Antenatal care and maternal mortality in Nigeria. Public Health Programme - exchange to Nigeria. www.antenatal-Nigeria.pdf Retrieved on 07/04/2010.
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[25] Weeks, A. (2007). Maternal mortality: it’s time to get political. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 114, 125-126.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Abayomi Muftau Adesina, Adegboyega Adegboye. (2020). Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: Trend, Triggers and Implications for Sustainable Development. American Journal of Life Sciences, 8(5), 135-143. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18

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    ACS Style

    Abayomi Muftau Adesina; Adegboyega Adegboye. Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: Trend, Triggers and Implications for Sustainable Development. Am. J. Life Sci. 2020, 8(5), 135-143. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18

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    AMA Style

    Abayomi Muftau Adesina, Adegboyega Adegboye. Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: Trend, Triggers and Implications for Sustainable Development. Am J Life Sci. 2020;8(5):135-143. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18,
      author = {Abayomi Muftau Adesina and Adegboyega Adegboye},
      title = {Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: Trend, Triggers and Implications for Sustainable Development},
      journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {135-143},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20200805.18},
      abstract = {Sustainable development has been a major aspiration of many developing countries, including Nigeria. However, the incidence of maternal mortality in the country has elicited serious concerns from all stake holders. This paper attempts to examine the incidence of maternal mortality in Nigeria, its trend and triggers with a view to appraising its implications for sustainable development. The study utilized secondary data obtained from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2015. The research indicates the existence of high maternal mortality in Nigeria, in spite of various government interventions in the health sector. The reasons ascribed for this situation include: poor health management; poverty, unemployment, poor access to health facilities, high illiteracy level and ignorance especially among rural dwellers, pathological causes, corruption, poor gender relations, and dearth of project management expertise. Implications for sustainable development revealed by the study include: Late/low school enrollment, absence of maternal care, increased poverty, waste of the nation’s non-renewable resources, productivity impairment and slowed Gross Domestic Product growth rate. The paper therefore recommends that the government should strongly fight corruption and enforce the nine years of universal basic education, ensure comprehensive health management, craft an inclusive theory of consumption, intensify public sensitization especially for rural dwellers and hone the project management skills of health workers. Finally, government needs to intensify campaign for gender equality in order to improve female-confidence and voice in the society while also making health facilities and processes more public-friendly with a view to facilitating access to pre- and post-natal services.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: Trend, Triggers and Implications for Sustainable Development
    AU  - Abayomi Muftau Adesina
    AU  - Adegboyega Adegboye
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18
    T2  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JF  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Life Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5737
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200805.18
    AB  - Sustainable development has been a major aspiration of many developing countries, including Nigeria. However, the incidence of maternal mortality in the country has elicited serious concerns from all stake holders. This paper attempts to examine the incidence of maternal mortality in Nigeria, its trend and triggers with a view to appraising its implications for sustainable development. The study utilized secondary data obtained from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2015. The research indicates the existence of high maternal mortality in Nigeria, in spite of various government interventions in the health sector. The reasons ascribed for this situation include: poor health management; poverty, unemployment, poor access to health facilities, high illiteracy level and ignorance especially among rural dwellers, pathological causes, corruption, poor gender relations, and dearth of project management expertise. Implications for sustainable development revealed by the study include: Late/low school enrollment, absence of maternal care, increased poverty, waste of the nation’s non-renewable resources, productivity impairment and slowed Gross Domestic Product growth rate. The paper therefore recommends that the government should strongly fight corruption and enforce the nine years of universal basic education, ensure comprehensive health management, craft an inclusive theory of consumption, intensify public sensitization especially for rural dwellers and hone the project management skills of health workers. Finally, government needs to intensify campaign for gender equality in order to improve female-confidence and voice in the society while also making health facilities and processes more public-friendly with a view to facilitating access to pre- and post-natal services.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Economics, School of Management Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

  • Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, College of Natural Science, Achievers University, Owo, Nigeria

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