Nigerian Man Divorces Teenage Wife For Giving Birth Under Male Doctor’s Care

Nigerian Man Divorces Teenage Wife For Giving Birth Under Male Doctor’s Care In Katsina State: A Plea For Medical Equity In Rural Nigeria

In an unsettling report from Katsina State, a man has allegedly severed his marital ties with his 14-year-old spouse after she was tended to by a male healthcare provider during the delivery of their child. The revelation was made by Dr. Fatima Adamu, the Executive Director of Nana Women and Girls Initiative, during her keynote address at the Human Resources for Health Production Dialogue event held on Thursday.

The young girl in question, herself still just a child, experienced a complicated childbirth that necessitated immediate medical attention. The emergent nature of her condition meant that there was no time to wait for the presence of a female medical professional in the hospital she was rushed to. Consequently, the available male medical practitioner stepped in to ensure a safe delivery.

However, the successful birth of their child, a typically joyous occasion, was tarnished for the husband when he discovered that a man had overseen his wife’s delivery. His traditional and conservative views triggered a dramatic reaction to this development, leading him to divorce his teenage wife.

Dr. Fatima Adamu shared this heartbreaking story while highlighting the urgent need for equitable distribution of medical personnel in rural communities. She made a fervent appeal to government bodies, particularly at the state level, to prioritize the recruitment and deployment of healthcare workers to remote areas.

The Human Resources for Health Production Dialogue, organized with an aim to instigate transformation in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, served as a platform for stakeholders to demand accountability and judicious management in medical training institutions.

Having spent over a decade and a half advocating for an augmentation in the production of nurses and midwives in Nigeria, Dr. Adamu emphasized the crucial role of state governments in building a robust healthcare workforce. In her words, “there is no shortcut about it”.

Dr. Adamu highlighted the unfortunate circumstances of the 14-year-old mother from Katsina State as a painful reminder of the dire consequences of healthcare inequity. “This young girl was divorced all because she was attended by a man during delivery,” she lamented.

Additionally, the women’s rights advocate pointed out a worrying disparity in the production of medical doctors relative to the country’s needs. She claimed that despite ongoing efforts, the number of health workers being produced falls significantly short of the requirements. She elucidated, “Our average population growth is 3.2, but our annual production of nurses and midwives is 2.6, so definitely, there is a gap”. These data underscore the importance of addressing the existing gaps in healthcare personnel to cater to Nigeria’s burgeoning population.