According to reports, a father in Katsina State has divorced his 14-year-old housewife because she allowed a male medical professional to care for her as she gave birth to his child.
According to reports, the adolescent mother, who had already been granted a divorce by her husband, experienced a difficult delivery and had to be taken urgently to the hospital without the assistance of a female doctor. Because of this, she had to have her baby with the only male medical professional on hand, which caused her marriage to fail.
The woman was reported to have given birth safely, but when her husband rushed to the hospital and discovered that the doctor who had attended to the wife during labor was a man, his delight was short-lived. He eventually divorceed his wife since he was upset with the situation.
Dr. Fatima Adamu, the executive director of the Nana Women and Girls Empowerment Initiative, made this announcement on Thursday in Abuja while serving as the keynote speaker at the Human Resources for Health Production Dialogue. She urged governments, particularly state governments, to ensure equity in the hiring and deployment of medical personnel to rural communities.
Participants at the event, which was organized with the goal of reforming the nation’s healthcare system, urged healthcare training institutes to be prudent and accountable.
Adamu, who has been working for more than 15 years to increase the nation’s production of nurses and midwives, insisted that governments, especially state governments, must assume responsibility for doing so because, in her words, “there is no short cut about it.”
“In Katsina State, a 14-year-old Fulani girl gave birth but had difficulty, so we had to transport her to the hospital. After the delivery, her husband divorced her because she had a male help her. She regretted that the reason why this young woman got divorced was because a male helped her deliver the baby.
The medical doctor shortage in Nigeria was regretted by the women’s rights activist.
Despite the productivity, there remains a dearth of health professionals.We are producing much fewer health professionals than we need. Our average population increase is 3.2, but we only produce 2.6 nurses and midwives year, so there is undoubtedly a gap. The most recent data that could be retrieved is that, she continued.
Recognizing the crucial role of students and tutors, Mr. Paul McDermott, Director of USAID/Nigeria HPN Office, who was also present and represented by Mieko Mickay, urged them to cultivate positive behaviors that build a culture of supportive and collaborative learning.
Dr. Andy Omoluabi, Country Director of USAID Health Workforce Management, HWM, emphasized the importance of human resources for health in bolstering the nation’s healthcare system. In particular, he cited primary health care providers like nurses, midwives, and community health extension workers as being key to this.
He claims that despite the obvious significance of these healthcare professionals, Nigeria has a difficult time developing enough qualified staff, particularly at the primary healthcare level.
As he put it, “Some of the identified key challenges, include shortages of qualified tutors and trainers, inadequate learning environments, and difficulties with adapting and delivering training curricula, despite revisions made in collaboration with regulatory bodies.”
The increasing rate of maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria was one of the most urgent issues brought up at the event. Surprisingly, Nigeria now accounts for more than 34% of all maternal fatalities worldwide and is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five.
