Doctors who care for pregnant women say many deaths during and after pregnancy in Nigeria could be avoided if women had fewer children.
These health experts explained that having too many children can cause serious health problems for women because every pregnancy and childbirth carries some risks.
They said one of the main reasons women die after childbirth is heavy bleeding, which is more common in women who have had many babies.
They also said that getting pregnant again too soon doesn’t give a woman enough time to recover from the loss of important nutrients like iron and folate during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Nigeria has one of the highest birth rates in the world, with an average of 5.3 children per woman. At the same time, many women die during childbirth — about 512 deaths for every 100,000 live births, according to a 2018 government survey.
The doctors also pointed out that many women still give birth at home without trained medical help, which makes the situation worse. Around 80% of births happen this way in Nigeria.
Dr. Joseph Akinde, a senior doctor and former head of a gynecologists’ group in Lagos, said that problems during pregnancy and childbirth are a major reason women die in Nigeria.
He explained that pregnancy puts both mental and physical pressure on women. Having many children increases the risk of bleeding during or after childbirth, which can lead to death.
Dr. Akinde said that with each pregnancy, the womb stretches and then has to shrink back after the baby is born. Over time, this shrinking process becomes weaker, increasing the risk of bleeding.
He also warned that women who have children at an older age have a higher chance of giving birth to babies with health problems.
He repeated that bleeding is a top reason women die after childbirth, and this risk is higher for women who have had many children.
Pregnancy puts a lot of stress on a woman’s body, and it becomes even more dangerous if the woman has health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.
He explained that these conditions often get worse during pregnancy. For example, a woman with diabetes or high blood pressure could get much sicker when she becomes pregnant.
He compared it to “pouring petrol on a burning house” — meaning it could be very dangerous. If women with chronic diseases keep getting pregnant, it might lead to their death.
He advised that women with these kinds of health problems should have only two or three children at most.
Dr. Akinde urged pregnant women with health conditions to start antenatal care early and to do it in well-equipped hospitals with trained health workers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says most women die from health problems that happen during or shortly after pregnancy and childbirth. These deaths can often be prevented or treated.
The WHO listed the main causes of death as: heavy bleeding, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, problems during delivery, and unsafe abortions.
Another doctor, Dr. Stanley Egbogu from a teaching hospital in Anambra State, said that pregnant women with other health conditions often have serious complications.
He warned that women with diseases like asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, or sickle cell should not get antenatal care from local health centers. These places don’t have the tools or experts to help them safely.
Dr. Egbogu said that these women need to go to specialist or teaching hospitals, where they can get expert care from trained doctors.
He said if these women go to local clinics, they should be referred immediately to bigger hospitals because of the high risk to both mother and baby.
The Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria says the country is far from meeting the global target for reducing deaths among pregnant women.
Nigeria’s maternal death rate is still very high — about 512 deaths per 100,000 births — which is far above the UN goal of 70 deaths per 100,000 by the year 2030.
