Jamare (Bauchi)  – No fewer than 115 pregnant women and 65 infants have died due to different  pregnancy related complications at the General Hospital in Jama’re Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

A Senior Medical Officer with the Jama’re General Hospital, Musa Bala, made this known in Jamare Headquarters of the council on Friday, while briefing newsmen who were on tour of the area.

He said the deaths were recorded between January and July and attributed the high rate of maternal mortality to the withdrawal of free medical services earlier rendered to pregnant women and children under the age of five years by the state government.

Bala said the maternal and infant mortality rate had risen immediately the hospital authorities stopped administering free medical services to pregnant women and children under the age of five years.

He pointed out that mortality rate has risen since 2010, when the state government withdrew the free medical services earlier being rendered to the two categories of people, whom he described as “most vulnerable groups”.

“As a result of the withdrawal of the free drugs given to pregnant women in various health facilities, a lot of the pregnant women stopped accessing their regular ante-natal services, especially when we stopped giving the bonus that comes along with the free drugs.

“Such bonuses normally encourages the pregnant women to attend their routine ante-natal services, as many of them preferred to give birth at home.”

Bala alleged that most of them had resorted to home delivery, where they were handled by inexperienced community birth attendants, who were not capable of handling birth complications.

“Hence, the rise in maternal mortality and morbidity rate in our hospital,” the official stated. (NAN)