The success of a program to reduce maternal deaths in Nigeria is measured in more than statistics
The statistics may appear faceless on paper: 512 deaths for every 100,000 pregnant women in Nigeria, one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally. But they’re not faceless to me. I see the mothers. I see the babies. I have stood in the rooms where those numbers become either tragedies or triumphs.
I work with Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria, a Rotary Foundation Programs of Scale grant-funded initiative. Having just completed its third year, the initiative aims to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in select areas of Nigeria by 25 percent. To do this, we’re conducting community dialogues and home visits to increase the number of families choosing to get health care in clinical settings rather than at home. We’re also making those services higher quality by providing additional training for health workers.
A community health worker mimics a pregnant person as she gives a talk about maternal health at a community dialogue in November.
During a recent emergency obstetric and neonatal care training, a woman in labor came into a nearby health center in Aaye in Ekiti state. The woman had been pregnant five times before and was carrying twins at just over 36 weeks.
The situation was tense. The facility was short-staffed and the officer in charge, a nurse midwife, was absent. A community health extension worker had stepped in to manage the delivery. She was not a midwife by training, but she had been part of our program, equipped with lifesaving skills through the emergency care training.
The first twin came quickly, headfirst. The cries of the newborn filled the room, and for a moment, relief washed over us. But the second twin was not as cooperative. He was in breech position, and despite the community health worker’s best efforts, the delivery would not progress. Time seemed to slow. The room grew heavy with anxiety.
A referral was made immediately, and thanks to the training and coordination in place, the medical officer of health and a nurse who were also attending the workshop acted without hesitation. Together, they transferred the woman to the General Hospital in the town of Iyin Ekiti.
Hours later, I stood at her bedside as the second twin was delivered safely. But the ordeal was not over. The patient began to bleed. She was experiencing a postpartum hemorrhage, a leading cause of maternal death in Nigeria. Swiftly, she was given several drugs and her bleeding came under control. The mother’s life had been saved, and both babies, though small, were breathing steadily.
That night, as I lay down, I thought of her face, pale but smiling, and the tiny forms of her children bundled at her side. I thought of the community health worker whose training gave her the courage to try, of the referral system that worked when things turned complicated, and of the hospital team that did not give up until mother and babies were safe.
For me, this was more than another day on the job. It was a calling reaffirmed. The experience reminded me that behind every statistic is a story: a mother, a child, a family, a future.
Olubunmi Afolabi is communications officer for Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria and a member of the Rotary E-Club of Nigeria New Dawn.
Community dialogues are one strategy to increase the number of families choosing to get health care in clinical settings.
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Health workers trained in emergency obstetric and neonatal care
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Health workers trained in respectful maternity care
The event includes blood sugar and malaria testing. The screenings encourage the attendance of men in the community.
At the event at a primary school in the Gwarinpa community in Abuja, students receive menstrual supplies as part of the broader discussion around reproductive health.
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Health facilities supplied with contraceptives, medicine, and supplies
A health fair serves session attendees
38,783
Home visits to encourage people to use available maternal and child health care
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Community dialogues to educate residents about maternal and child health
The event includes a handwashing demonstration for students (left). A mother in attendance receives anti-malarial medicine (right).
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People reached at community dialogues across four target states
Rotary Foundation Trustee Ijeoma Pearl Okoro (second from left) and Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Holger Knaack (far right) receive appreciation awards, with (from left) Kingsley Okoro, Lanre Adedoyin, and Joy Nky Okoro.
This story originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of Rotary magazine.