Pregnant women in some rural communities in Nigeria continue to suffer from the lack of adequate and quality maternal care due to lack of access to a healthcare facility or, where there is a healthcare facility, it often lacks the basic amenities to enable it function effectively.
Pregnant women in Unguwar Duniya community, in Dawaki Kudu Local Government Area (LGA) of Kano State are experiencing the later. Even though the community has a Primary Health Centre (PHC), the absence of a labor room makes it difficult to conduct deliveries, and the situation is not helped by the poor access road to the community. As a result, women face the extreme challenge of getting medical care when they are about to give birth.
‘’Here, we only offer ANC services and then we refer women to other hospitals in other towns for delivery,” said Firdausi Yusuf, a health worker at the clinic.
But a labor room isn’t the PHC’s only need. Their toilet is in poor shape, making some women reluctant to attend ANC “due to lack of convenience,” said Auwal Abdulmumin, a resident of Unguwar Duniya.
During the rainy season, the community’s access roads are usually flooded, making it difficult to convey pregnant women to the hospital. Aminu Dan-Kudihu, a resident, narrated how he lost his wife, on her way to the hospital.
“Recently, due to the bad condition of the road, on her way to the hospital while in labor, the bike carrying her got stuck in mud and was unable to move. While trying to find another route to the hospital, she died in the process”.
Childbearing can only be a wonderful experience for women when it doesn’t come with complications or cost them their lives. Delays in getting to health facilities and accessing services at the health facilities are some of the causes of maternal complications. The women of Unguwar Duniya Community deserve access to quality maternal care, to achieve this, they are requesting for the following:
- Build and equip a labor room for the clinic.
- Renovate the toilet and build an additional toilet.
- Reconstruct the poor access road to the clinic.