Nigeria faces maternal health crisis as deadliest country to give birth

In northeast Nigeria, women face some of the deadliest odds in the world when giving birth. The region, already scarred by years of Boko Haram insurgency, now grapples with collapsing health systems, dwindling aid, and growing insecurity, leaving mothers with little access to care.

Aisha Muhammed, a mother of twins from Konduga, described her ordeal:

“A lack of good hospitals is our problem, as well as a lack of workers, medication and doctors that can treat us. A lack of access to the road from Konduga to Maiduguri in the night time to visit the hospital is also a problem,” she said in Hausa.

Her story reflects a wider crisis. According to the World Health Organization, Nigeria recorded at least 75,000 maternal deaths in 2023 — more than a quarter of the global total. At least one in every 100 Nigerian women dies during childbirth, making it the deadliest country in the world to give birth.

In Borno State, where Boko Haram militants continue attacks nearly daily, clinics have been destroyed, doctors are scarce, and many towns have become heavily militarized “garrison towns.”

“The reproductive health needs for women and girls is very critical, especially in deep field locations,” said Dr. Fanya Fwachabe, Sexual and Reproductive Health Manager at the International Rescue Committee. “People in these areas find it difficult to access services because they’re either out of reach or located in militarized areas.”

The humanitarian crisis has been worsened by the withdrawal of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid and the Nigerian government’s decision to slash family planning budgets by 97% in 2025. Health workers warn that without urgent funding, the already dire situation will deteriorate further.

For women like Falmata Muhammed, who lost a baby while trying to reach Maiduguri for care in 2021, the stakes could not be higher. Now pregnant again, she lives in a town where the only hospital was burned down by militants in 2020 and replaced by a mobile clinic ill-equipped for childbirth.

With insecurity cutting off access and resources dwindling, the prospects for safe motherhood in northeast Nigeria remain bleak.