Residents of Maiyola, a community of 3,000 residents in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have said that they lose an average of one pregnant woman monthly due to absence of antenatal services.
The residents said in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they also lose a lot of children under five due to absence of healthcare services.
A housewife, Salamatu Haruna, said: “Women here rarely attend antenatal or visit hospitals for check up during pregnancy or delivery.
“I don’t go for antenatal services during my pregnancies because of the distance between our village and the nearest place to get hospital services which is Kachia or Idoh and is about 100 kilometres from here.’’
She also said that the village have no good road to allow for smooth ride on motorcycles for women in labour.
“For us to access health care we have to use motorcycles, as such women here deliver at home with the help of traditional birth attendants.
“We do not have good road here and one cannot easily get cars or motorcycles, sometimes we trek, and when a woman is in labour in the night it becomes more difficult to even contemplate going to hospital.
“Eleven pregnant women have died this year from labour complications,’’ the woman said.
Another housewife, Hafsat Abubakar said, “anytime I am pregnant, it comes with fever and since there is no hospital close by, I prefer to stay at home and take local herbs as it is our culture.
“I know four women close to me that lost their lives in the process of child birth here in the village.
“We prefer to patronise traditional birth attendants because that’s the only option we have here in Mayola.’’
Zainab Abubakar, another resident, said she go for antenatal but not frequently, because of the distance and poor transport service.
The woman said she patronise a local patent medicine store wherever she felt ill.
Another woman, Zainab Musa, said five of her relatives died during childbirth in the community this year.
“I give birth at home because my mom is a traditional birth attendant and the culture here is when it is time for you to give birth you go to your parents house and not your husband house.’’
However, Mariam Mayola, who shared her experience, said she once attended antenatal services and was asked to go for scanning in Kaduna and had to spend a lot of money on that.
“Accessing health care services here is very difficult for us, because some of us also feel lazy when you think of trekking to Crossing before going to Kachia or Idoh to access health services.’’
A 60-year-old woman, Maryam Mayola, noted that women suffer a lot during childbirth in the community in addition to huge expenses incurred in the process.
A husband, Mohammed Adamu, said the ordeals women go through in the village during child birth were regrettable.
“I remember the day I took my wife to hospital during childbirth and before reaching there she lost her life.
“These are some of the ordeals our women go through. She really suffered on that day before she and the baby died.
“So we are very happy to see you in this community because we have never seen journalists face to face but here you are in our community,’’ Adamu said.
Also speaking, the village head, Ardo Abu Maiyola, expressed concern that they had never received any government official in the 40-year history of the village.
“We hope your visit will bring development to this community.
“On the issue of health or pregnant women, honestly our women do suffer a lot during childbirth, in fact, anytime our women get pregnant we never have rest of mind until they deliver their babies safely.
“You have seen that yourself, there is no clinic and other social amenities here in Maiyola, and this village has been in existence for over 40 years. We are only living here on the mercy of God,’’ the community leader said.
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