We are delighted to share with you the latest updates on our project to improve access, utilisation, and affordability of quality maternal and child healthcare services in Kaduna State. This project is a partnership between the TY Danjuma Foundation and the Freehearts Africa Reach Out Foundation (FAROF), which started in 2021 and has been making remarkable progress ever since.

Nigeria faces a high burden of maternal and child mortality and morbidity, especially in rural areas where access to healthcare is limited. According to the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS, 2018). Nigeria loses 2,300 under-five-year-old children and 145 women of childbearing age every day. This is largely due to inadequate medical care for pregnant women, financial constraints, power imbalance, distance to hospitals, and inadequate health facilities. Moreover, Nigeria has the second-highest burden of stunted children in the world, with a national prevalence rate of 32% of under-five children being stunted, (UNICEF, 2021).

Pregnant and Nursing Mothers at an Antenatal Class

To address these challenges, the TY Danjuma Foundation and FAROF have been implementing various interventions to improve the quality and availability of maternal and child health services in targeted communities in Kaduna State. Some of these interventions include:

• Renovation and equipping of labour rooms in selected Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to provide safe and hygienic delivery spaces.
• Provision of emergency tricycles to reduce delays in accessing healthcare services, especially for pregnant women who need urgent referral or transportation to PHCs.
• Provision of nutritional supplements to malnourished under-five children and establishment of bio-fortified maize and orange-fleshed potato farms, rich in essential nutrients that enhance the nutritional status of lactating/pregnant women and under-five children.
• Training of health workers to better provide quality healthcare to mothers and children, including antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), immunisation, family planning, etc.
• Provision of delivery kits to mothers who attend at least 75% of ANC sessions.

These interventions have resulted in significant improvements in the health outcomes of mothers and children in the project areas as illustrated below:

We are grateful for the continued support and broad-based collaboration on the project by stakeholders interested in promoting access to quality maternal and child healthcare services in Kaduna state. We look forward to sharing more updates with you in the future.