“You’ve saved so many souls that it will be very difficult for you to imagine. Your effort is appreciated, here in Poly, here on Earth, even in Heaven.. there’s nothing you can use to buy life”.

- Senior Ob/Gyn and Director of PolyClinic Asata, Enugu Nigeria

There is an urgent call for action and greater national priority on child survival through interventions that will be integrated at community and family levels, targeting pregnant women, under-five children and accessing the hard-to-reach in order to meet the 2015 MDGs.

The perinatal mortality rate (PMR) in Nigeria varies from center to center ranging from 40 to above 80/1000 live births. The National Demographic and Health Survey (2003) gave an estimated perinatal mortality rate (PMR) of 90/1000 live births in Nigeria. This figure is significantly high especially when compared to < 19/1000 live births obtained in developed countries of Europe, North America and Australia.

This high perinatal mortality rate (PMR) recorded in the country is also demonstrated by recent hospital-based studies which observed rates of 77.03, 50.9, and 133.9 per 1000 live births respectively. Furthermore, a steady yearly increase in the rates was observed in these studies. Perinatal mortality rates in other African countries revealed that Ethiopia has 68 per 1000, South Africa 45 per 1000 and, Egypt 43 per 1000.

Courtesy of: Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research of Enugu State