Maternal mortality is unacceptably high. About 830 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day.

World Health Organisation WHO estimated that in 2015, roughly 303 000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all of these deaths occurred in low-resource settings, and most could have been prevented .

In sub-Saharan Africa, according to WHO report , a number of countries halved their levels of maternal mortality since 1990. In other regions, including Asia and North Africa, even greater headway was made.

Between 1990 and 2015, the global maternal mortality ratio (the number of maternal deaths per 100 000 live births) declined by only 2.3% per year between 1990 and 2015.

 However, increased rates of accelerated decline in maternal mortality were observed from 2000 onwards. In some countries, annual declines in maternal mortality between 2000–2010 were above 5.5%.

Seeing that it is possible to accelerate the decline, countries have now united behind a new target to reduce maternal mortality even further. One target under Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 births, with no country having a maternal mortality rate of more than twice the global average.

Why do women and infants die?
Women and infants die as a result of complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth. Most of these complications develop during pregnancy and most are preventable or treatable. Other complications may exist before pregnancy but are worsened during pregnancy, especially if not managed as part of the woman’s care.

How can women’s lives be saved?
Most maternal deaths are preventable, as the health-care solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known. All women need access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth.

But to improve maternal health, barriers that limit access to quality maternal health services must be identified and addressed at all levels of the health system so as to make childbirth a safe event . And one of such barriers  is the non availability and accessibility of Biomedical Engineers.

Biomedical engineering, or bioengineering, is the application of engineering principles to the fields of biology and health care. Bioengineers work with doctors, therapists and researchers to develop systems, equipment and devices in order to solve clinical problems. Hence , for an effective, smooth running, total health care delivery system especially in the developing countries, the importance of constituting, nurturing and development of the discipline of Biomedical Engineering cannot be over-emphasised.

To reduce high maternal and newborn mortalities , Cocacola has gone into  partnership with Nigeria and some governments across the West Africa region . They came with Safe Birth Initiative (SBI), a new community Wellbeing programme to support efforts by national governments to reduce the alarming numbers of women and newborns who die from birth related complications every day .

This initiative , according to Clem Ugorji, the Public Affairs and Communications Director for Coca-Cola West Africa, is being piloted in Nigeria and Ivory Coast. In Nigeria, it is implemented as a strategic golden triangle partnership involving Coca-Cola, the Government (the Federal Ministry of Health and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals) and an NGO, Medshare International Inc.

 Safe Birth Initiative will support the government in three key areas to help doctors and nurses in target public hospitals to minimize maternal and newborn deaths: providing vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies; training biomedical technicians/engineers to improve equipment maintenance and uptime; and reactivating abandoned medical equipment in hospitals which are wasting away at the expense of the precious lives of mother and babies for whom they were procured in the first place.

Recently , stakeholders workshop with theme: “Enabling Safe Birth in Nigeria’’ was held in Lagos . The event also marked completion of the two-week maiden SBI capacity training for 20 biomedical engineering technicians from 10 leading medical institutions across the country by US-based Engineering World Health (EWH) at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

With the training of the biomedical engineering technicians , the company hopes to promote effective maintenance culture by empowering biomedical engineering technicians with the knowledge, skills, tools and confidence to take responsibility for ensuring maximum uptime for hospital equipment.

The event was organised by the SBI sponsored by Coca-Cola, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals and an NGO, Medshare International Inc.

According to Ugorji “In addition to completing the first batch of the biomedical engineering technicians training, the consignment of equipment and supplies required for the National Hospital, Abuja, has been fully delivered.

“The consignments for Federal Medical Centres in Ebute-Metta and Owerri and General Hospital, Alimosho, Lagos, are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks.“The needs assessments are ongoing at six other approved hospitals to determine their specific needs . There is a limit to what our doctors and nurses can do with just their skills and passion, in the absence of the vital life-saving equipment required for effective diagnosis, testing and treatment,” Ugorji said.

Speaking at the event , Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, represented by Dr Adedamola Dada, Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebutte-Meta  , Lagos commended Coca Cola Nigeria for SBI and called on the private sector to collaborate with government to free the nation from maternal and childhood deaths.

Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, represented by Dr Bala Yusuf  said , “This partnership is a classic example of what we can do when we combine our expertise and resources in support of the 2030 SDG agenda.

“We hope this event will strengthen our resolve to continue to work together as policy makers, development practitioners, academics, but more importantly as concerned citizens, in support of the 2030 agenda of the sustainable development goals,’’ she said.

Others present at the event were Prof. Chinyere Ezeaka, Past President, Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, Editor, Today’s Woman; Prof. Carmen Walker, Chief Operating Officer, Nigeria BMET Programme, Engineering World Health, and Mr Eben Amstrong, Director of Biomedical Engineering Training and Technical Service, Medshare International, etc.

Meanwhile , the official launch of the Safe Birth Initiative and inauguration of the first set of SBI equipment in the country would take place at the National Hospital in Abuja .