A startling new report reveals that nearly seventy percent of pregnant women in Bauchi State still give birth at home, skipping professional medical care.
To tackle this, UNICEF and the Nigeria Union of Journalists have teamed up to train local media professionals on how to drive a shift toward hospital births.
The statistics say sixty-nine percent of expectant mothers in Bauchi deliver without skilled assistance, a trend health experts say is a leading cause of maternal and infant deaths.
To bridge this gap, the Bauchi State Council of the NUJ, in partnership with UNICEF, hosted a one-day workshop. The goal is simple but urgent, and it is to use the power of the press to convince families that the safest place for a baby to be born is in a health facility.
The UNICEF Health Officer and NUJ Chairman Umar Sa’idu both noted that while the state government has made strides in healthcare, the system is still starving for more qualified personnel. They argued that better facilities won’t matter if there aren’t enough hands to man them.
The fifty journalists in attendance ended the session with a pledge to move beyond basic reporting and actively campaign for safer births, ensuring that no mother in Bauchi loses her life while giving life.
(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
