The Effects of COVID-19 on Maternal and Child Health in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted health services all over the world, but the effect it has had on maternal and child health in Nigeria is especially detrimental. The pandemic has caused medical supply and labor shortages that have made it difficult for hospitals to run at their full capacity. With the amount of cases overwhelming the healthcare facilities in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) like Nigeria, professionals are prioritizing providing emergency care alongside treating COVID patients (Ahmed et al., 2021). This has caused wellness visits and checkups to decrease dramatically because of the lack of resources. In addition, many mothers make the difficult decision to abstain from making appointments for prenatal care for fear of contracting the virus. “...The initiation of women seeking medical care during pregnancy fell by 16 percent in Nigeria, according to findings by the Global Financing Facility” (COVID-19 Pandemic Leads to Drop, 2021). This increases the risk of something going wrong during birth because there were no screens performed beforehand to prompt physicians to prepare for complications.

COVID-19 has also caused significant negative effects on the mental health of children. “‘Even before the pandemic, far too many children were burdened under the weight of unaddressed mental health issues. This has been compounded by the pandemic. “The impact is significant, and it is sadly just the tip of the iceberg,” said Peter Hawkins (Impact of COVID-19, 2021). Lockdown in Nigeria has disrupted many children’s education, and exposed them to more stressors. They have had to spend more time at home or doing work with their parents to ensure their family’s survival. In isolation, they’ve been kept from friends and play that would’ve otherwise provided temporary relief from such stressful situations. For children, the mortality rate for preventable causes is estimated to increase due to lack of access to treatment, vaccinations, and food security. “Globally, 6,000 additional children under five could die every day” (“COVID-19: 950 More Nigerian Children,” 2021).

Countries like Nigeria have had to overcome tragic histories involving colonialism, political instability, and poverty, the effects of which were still being seen before the pandemic. Conditions like low literacy rates, impoverished communities, and lack of access to healthcare have worsened dramatically in the past 18 months for LMICs. It is critical that the progress made to address these issues is not lost and that maternal and child health is not neglected in the scope of COVID-19.

References:

Ahmed, T et al. (2021). The effect of COVID-19 on maternal newborn and child health

(MNCH) services in Bangladesh, Nigeria and South Africa: call for a contextualised pandemic response in LMICs. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(77). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01414-5

UNICEF. (2021, Oct. 4). Covid-19: 9550 more Nigerian children under five could die every day

without urgent action. https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/press-releases/covid-19-950-more-nigerian-children-under-five-could-die-every-day-without-urgent

UNICEF. (2021, Oct. 5). Impact of COVID-19 on poor mental health in children and young

people ‘tip of the iceberg’- UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/press-releases/impact-covid-19-poor-mental-health-children-and-young-people-tip-iceberg-unicef

Project Hope. (2021, April 12). COVID-19 Pandemic Leads to Drop of Maternal Health Care in

Africa, Raising Fears of Increased Mortality. https://www.projecthope.org/covid-19-pandemic-leads-to-drop-of-maternal-health-care-in-africa-raising-fears-of-increased-mortality/04/2021/