Nigeria’s ‘Flying Midwives’ Are Helping Save Moms and Babies
Nigeria is a risky place to give birth. Around 58,000 mothers die in childbirth in Nigeria every year, and 240,000 newborns within 28 days of birth. Despite being the wealthiest country in Africa by GDP, it ranks fourth in maternal mortality globally. But the situation is especially bad in the northeast of the country. Here in Borno state, which is at the epicenter of a decade–long Islamist insurgency led by Boko Haram, more than 6,500 newborns die every year of preventable causes—twice the rate of the rest of the country, according to the Nigerian government. And approximately 3,500 to 4,500 women die yearly because of causes related to childbirth.
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