New research published in the Lancet shows that Nigeria has the highest rate of stillbirths in Africa. It's a harrowing and traumatic experience and something which the Senate president's wife, Toyin Saraki has gone through.
In a move to create awareness of the direct and indirect costs of stillbirths, Her Excellency Mrs. Toyin Saraki, Founder-President of the leading maternal health NGO - Wellbeing Foundation Africa, yesterday, 19th January 2016, spoke with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to call for improvements in health education and access to primary healthcare – key elements to reducing stillbirths around the world.
Speaking to BBC Focus On Africa Radio Correspondent Akwasi Sarpong, Mrs. Saraki shared her personal birth story while discussing how it inspired her efforts, through the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, to end stillbirths.
The Senate president's wife who tragically lost one of her twins due to failures in the Nigerian public health care system, stated, "I was fighting for one life and bewildered how to mourn the other life…People did not know whether to congratulate or commiserate with me."
Sharing her story with the BBC, the WBFA Founder further stated, "stillbirths often go unrecorded, let alone lead to counselling. This is why I started the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, which works to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health across the continent."
According to Mrs. Saraki, this experience informed her decision to co-author the third report in the Lancet, "Ending Preventable Stillbirths" Series launched on 19th January 2015, titled "Stillbirths: economic and psychosocial consequences."
In this report, Mrs. Saraki and WBFA provided a unique perspective on stillbirths in sub-Saharan Africa; sharing interventions such as the WBFA Personal Health Records, the Foundation’s emergency obstetric and newborn care training with Johnson & Johnson and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and their work on Respectful Maternity Care for new and expectant mothers.
Following this interview, Mrs. Saraki also participated in a short section for BBC Hausa and BBC Online where she shared what women should do during pregnancy to prevent stillbirths, sharing information on monitoring pregnancy and measures that can be taken to save newborns.
Listen to the interview on Sound Cloud BBC Focus Africa (Above). Her interview began at 13.00. You call also
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Credits: The Wellbeing Foundation Africa / Daniel Sync