Reproductive health care and maternal mortality: strategies for improvement in Nigeria

Available evidence shows that developing countries account for significantly higher proportion of maternal mortality in the world. Nigeria is not an exception. Reproductive health care in these countries has also been identified to be at a very low level. This paper therefore attempts to investigate the perception and health-seeking behaviour of Nigerian women as well as their opinion about pregnancy-related risks. Data used for the study were obtained from a survey of 320 women in the age range 15-49 using two rural communities and one urban location in South Western Nigeria as the study areas. The Results of the study indicate that, some of the serious pregnancy-related risks were differently perceived by Nigerian women. Many of the women would not perceive these risks as being too serious as they were regarded as normal and to be expected during pregnancy. The need to improve reproductive health care in Nigeria was recognised and suggestions on how to prevent this high incidence of maternal mortality in Nigeria are proffered. KEY WORDS: Health-seeking Mortality, Reproductive health, Pregnancy risks. Global Jnl Medical Sciences Vol.2(2) 2003: 177-18