Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, wife of the Kebbi State Governor, says Nigeria is ranked third among 10 top countries with high rate of preterm birth of 773,600.
Dr. Shinkafi-Bagudu, who disclosed this in Abuja when the National Association of Nigerian Paediatric Nurses (NANPAN) paid advocacy visit on her, attributed the statistics to the latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Preterm birth also know as premature birth is the birth of baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age.
The wife of the governor frowned at the rating, lamenting that a lot of preterm related death often occurred due to lack of sophisticated equipment that would ensure proper care for the babies.
“Prematurity is the leading cause of newborn death worldwide and if we can save some of these babies we will definitely record more economic impact in our country. “The resources in terms of human and material that is expended on premature birth and babies dying every year is enormous and we can do something about it,” she said.
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