Why Medical Research Scientists Are Demanding Infant Mortality Audits

Medical Research Scientists in the country are advocating national maternal and infant mortality audit system, backed by a legal framework.

The call is coming from scientists from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, who also advice such an audit should be backed by a legal framework mandating autopsies for all maternal deaths in Nigeria.

These stances are major fallouts of  the Institute’s monthly media chat in Lagos.

Speaking, the Director-General of NIMR, Professor John Obafunwa, raised concerns over the reliability of existing maternal and infant mortality statistics, stating that corona on all maternal deaths would provide data and help curb the high rate of maternal mortality in the country.

“We need a nationwide coronial law that mandates autopsies in such cases. Without proper investigations, we are only scratching the surface”, Obafunwa declared.

But beyond infant mortality, he is of the opinion that current statistics on Nigeria’s broader health realities, are inadequate.

Current data, argued further, often reflected only tertiary hospital cases while maternal deaths at primary and secondary health facilities, or with traditional birth attendants, often go undocumented.

“Some of these deaths are never investigated. Unfortunately, that aspect of maternal mortality cannot be executed in isolation. It must be a national effort,” he said.

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Factors fueling preventable maternal deaths

Professor Obafunwa also listed factors fueling preventable maternal deaths in the country, saying these include:

1. poor access to care,
2. quackery, and
3. weak health infrastructure continue

Joining the conversation on the broader issue of infant mortality audit general, Director of Research at NIMR, Professor Oliver Ezechi, submitted that most maternal deaths occur suddenly and meet the criteria for autopsy under medical law.

“I remember cases where we thought a woman died of pre-eclampsia, only for the pathologist to find it was amniotic fluid embolism.

Those reviews were not to apportion blame, but to learn and lessons learned saved lives”, he said recalling his training years.