Nigeria Accounts for a Quarter of Global Maternal Deaths, UN Says

ABUJA, NIGERIA —  Nigeria accounts for at least 25 per cent of maternal deaths recorded worldwide, and one in 22 Nigerian women risks dying in pregnancy or childbirth, a United Nations official said, underlining the scale of the Nigeria maternal mortality burden, Daily Trust reported on 5 November.

Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, gave the figures in Abuja on Wednesday at the second annual National Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Network Conference.

“Statistics show that Nigeria contributes at least 25% of maternal mortality,” Eyong said. “A pregnant woman faces a lifetime risk of dying around pregnancy and delivery and in Nigeria, in a rate of 1 in every 22.”

In developed countries, the comparable lifetime risk is about one in more than 4,000, according to the report.

Understanding the Nigeria maternal mortality burden

Lifetime risk combines how often women become pregnant with the chance of dying each time. In Nigeria, high fertility, limited access to skilled birth attendants and long delays in reaching emergency care all add to that risk.

Most maternal deaths are caused by severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, high blood pressure in pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, obstructed labour and complications of unsafe abortion. Many can be prevented when a woman gives birth with a skilled attendant and can reach a facility that offers blood transfusion, caesarean section and medicines to stop bleeding and control seizures.

Health experts often describe three delays behind maternal deaths: the delay in deciding to seek care, the delay in reaching a facility and the delay in receiving adequate treatment once there. Cost, distance, insecurity, poor roads and understaffed facilities feed into each one.

Beyond policy declarations

Eyong called on government, development partners, civil society and other stakeholders to go beyond policy declarations and tackle the social and economic factors behind maternal deaths. She urged participants to develop concrete recommendations on preventing gender-based violence, protecting human rights defenders, improving access to justice and implementing existing laws and international commitments.

The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, was represented by John Uruakpa, Director of the Health Promotion Division. Pate said the Federal Government sees sexual and reproductive health and rights as integral to human dignity, equitable development and universal health coverage, and that improving reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health remains a priority.

The Minister of Youth Development, Olawande Ayodele, was represented by Kehinde Awujoola, his Senior Special Assistant on Gender Matters. He said young people cannot reach their full potential without access to safe and equitable sexual and reproductive health information and services, which he described as fundamental human rights.

What could reduce maternal deaths

Nigeria has introduced several programmes to cut maternal deaths. The National Health Insurance Authority has financed emergency childbirth care for vulnerable women, and federal officials say free and subsidised maternal care is being expanded through primary health care centres and insurance schemes.

Antenatal care allows health workers to detect high blood pressure, anaemia and infections early. Family planning helps women space pregnancies and avoid unintended pregnancies, which lowers lifetime risk. Skilled attendance at birth and quick access to emergency obstetric care deal with complications when they happen.

Adolescent girls face higher risks because their bodies may not be fully developed and because they often have less access to information and services. Early marriage and early childbearing remain common in parts of Nigeria, which is one reason the conference focused on young people and gender equality.

Gender-based violence also affects maternal health. Women who experience violence may have less control over when they become pregnant and may be prevented from seeking care, which is why advocates link the Nigeria maternal mortality burden to wider questions of women’s rights and economic power.

Data also matter. Many maternal deaths in Nigeria happen at home or on the way to hospital and are never formally recorded, so surveillance and review of each death can help health authorities see where the system fails.

Maternal death surveillance and response, a system in which each maternal death is reported and reviewed, has been adopted in Nigeria’s policies, but coverage remains uneven across states.

Recent official figures show newborn deaths in Nigeria have risen even as under-five mortality has fallen, which points to gaps in care around the time of birth for both mothers and babies.

The conference was expected to produce recommendations for government and partners. Reducing the Nigeria maternal mortality burden will depend on whether those recommendations are funded and carried out at state and local level, where most births take place.

 

 

Why it matters: One in 22 Nigerian women risks dying from pregnancy, and most of these deaths are preventable with timely, affordable care.

 

 

Source: Daily Trust (Idowu Isamotu),  November 2026.