"My husband was with me in the delivery room during the birth of our second child. His presence made the labour pain tolerable. It gave me a sense of calm as it had a psychological and emotional effect on me," says Mrs Taliah Chukwuma, a businesswoman.
"We were fortunate that the hospital where I delivered allowed spouses or relatives to be present in delivery rooms. We had been looking forward to the experience," Mrs Chukwuma, one of the Nigerian women who have benefitted from the companionship in labour programme supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) adds.

Preterm birth compli-cations are the leading cause of death globally for children under five. Of the 15 million babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy every year, approximately one million will die. But new research conducted at secondary and tertiary health facilities in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan offers hope for increased survival rates.
Read more at: https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/project-syndicate/news/helping-prem...

Africare, Nigeria Health Watch, and EpiAFRIC are set to launch a report on the causes of maternal deaths in communities in Nigeria on Monday, November 30th, 2020. 
Despite advocacy efforts and interventions geared towards reducing preventable maternal deaths,  the most vulnerable women in Nigeria are continuously faced with barriers when accessing quality health care. Nigeria is the second largest contributor to maternal mortality after India, with an estimated 58,000 maternal deaths annually. 

ABUJA – The Federal Government declared Tuesday that the maternal mortality rate of 512 deaths per 100,000 births , will be reduced very drastically within the next one year .
It also declared that neo-natal mortality which at present , stands at 39 deaths per 1000 live births and under age 5 mortality rate of 132 deaths per 1000 live births, will be tackled in the coming months through improved quality health Care delivery system .