Have you ever noticed how you didnt realise there were so many types of a certain car until your father or uncle bought that same make. How so many people wore a certain shirt until you put it on.
What I noticed this year was how so many people were pregnant because I also had a protruding belly.
Going anywhere with my sister or sister-in-law were sure to draw comments from them such as ‘Look at your sister’, or ‘Your fellow pregnant mate’ when we encountered such ‘sisters’.
It was also funny how ones status changed suddenly. Going to the market especially Tejuoso (yes the famous Yaba market) drew calls like ‘Aunty, buy maternity wear…, buy baby bath (sic), buy feeding bottle’ etc, I sure stood out.
I had also heard, read and even knew a few people who had died from complications in pregnancy but it was not until I almost went the way of all flesh before the term ‘Maternal Mortality’ took on a new and very profound meaning.
The greeting ‘Eku ewu omo’ is a Yoruba word which is said to a couple and members of their family on the succesfull delivery of a baby or babies and also when the mother lives after such an ‘ordeal’. Literally it says, ‘Greetings for surviving the danger inherent in the process of becoming a Mother’. (Well thats my literal translation! )
Like the now common shirt, the greeting took on a whole new meaning and I actually ‘understood’ the greeting. After thinking about the term for a while, I realise this is a very ‘Nigerian’ greeting.
It is well known that Nigeria has one of the highest if not the highest maternal mortality rate in the world with 1,000 per 100,000 births. There’s been a lot of talk about bringing down the figures but truly a lot more needs to be done.
A number of the reasons given for MM in Nigeria, include Poverty, Illiteracy, unbooked emergencies and a whole lot more. Spending time in a typical Northern Nigerian village during my service year one saw a lot of this and could understand the reasons why deaths occured when they did, however in towns and with people who do not fall into or cannot be said to have the 3points above as reasons for MM, there are a number of questions begging to be answered.
Understandably, I have a lot more to say…
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