One Million Premature Babies Die Annually- Expert

No fewer than one million babies die annually due to complications associated with premature birth said the founder, Abiye Maternal and Child Health International Foundation (AMCH), Dr. Elizabeth Disu.

Speaking at the AMCH World Prematurity Day celebration held recently in Ikeja, Lagos, Disu said prematurity is one of the leading causes of newborn deaths in the world.

“Prematurity is the most single important cause of new born death and 15 million preterm babies are delivered worldwide, out of which one million die and three quarters of those death are preventable and most of these deaths are in the developing countries.

“Nigeria has the highest number of preterm babies and the highest number of newborn death in the world. If preterm babies survived, we will be able to reduce the rate of neonatal death in this country,” she said.

The World Prematurity Day was celebrated worldwide to bring awareness about babies that were born too sudden and before the 37 weeks of gestation or pregnancy, according to her.

We use the opportunity to draw attention to preventive measure for preterm birth as well as life-saving measures, treatments and community support,” Disu said.

The Founder of AMCH explained that babies born too early have more health issues than babies born on time stressing preterm babies may face long-term health problems that affect the brain, lungs, hearing or vision.

She called on government to ensure categorization of institution, both the private and public hospitals, saying that this would help most premature babies to survive.

“To save the most lives, care needs to be delivered at all levels of the health system. Care that can be provided at the community level by community resource persons, outreach workers, and volunteers with limited training; primary care at a clinic by professionals with more training and referral care provided by physicians, skilled nurses and midwives in a hospital,” she said.

Disu also disclosed that Nigeria had the highest newborn death in the whole of Africa, saying that 37 out of every 1000 live birth die in Nigeria, adding that “it is improving, it used to be 50. We are working together to ensure that babies survive. We want mothers to attend ante-natal care, mothers should feed well and not do heavy jobs when pregnant, and when ill, they should seek medical attention.”

Also speaking, Prof. Omotunde Sagoe, Professor of Primatology, described prematurity as both a happy and sad situation, because the babies come out of the womb before the duration.

“Many of them come out dead and many also come out alive. They are now into this world to manage themselves, that is why this organisation has been set up by Disu to help them live this difficult life. This organisation has been training many on this. By this we will reduce incidents of premature babies born and dying and Nigeria is the third highest in the world. Their cases have to be managed properly,” she said.

Lagos state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said government was doing all it could to ensure reduction of preterm babies in the state.

Idris, who was represented by Dr. Victoria Omoera, of the Maternal and Prenatal Deaths Surveillance and Response unit, Ministry of Health, said “we need to support the programme, we want our mothers and children to survive and that is why we are here to support the programme. We need to build up the capacity in terms of personnel to take care of these babies.”