Eighty-six women don benefit from di free caesarean section programme wey di federal govment of Nigeria declare for di University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), according to Dr. Iloabuchi Ephraim Onwe, wey be di head of department of di National Health Insurance Authority for di hospital.

Di govment for November 2024 bin announce di programme wey dem tok say go be for "poor and vulnerable" women so as to bring down di high number of mothers wey dey die for childbirth.

Dr. Onwe tell BBC News Pidgin say dem dey run di free C-section for dia Comprehensive Emergency Maternal Obstetrics and Neonatal Care (CEMONC) programme since February 2025.

Dis programme e say dey targeted at providing caesarean section for emergency cases for pregnant women in order to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates for Nigeria.

"After di signing of memorandum of understanding wit di HMO wey dey in charge of dis programme, we start dis programme for di first week of February 2025.

"Since dat time we don successfully manage 86 women wey dey eligible for dis programme and about 53 babies from our records," e tok.

Di modalities of implementing di programme according to Dr. Onwe dey come from di MOU dem get from di Federal Ministry of Health wey be di federal govment aspect, den di MOU dem get wit di Health Maintenance Organisation, dat na Leadway Health Maintenance Organisation wey dey interface with both di healthcare providers and di federal goment.

Verification to know if beneficiary dey poor

For Federal Medical Centre Lagos, authorities confam to di BBC News Pidgin say dem dey do di free C-section for pregnant women for di state.

Reliable source for di hospital say dem no dey announce am so dat pipo no go abuse and kill di programme.

Our investigation reveal say na eight pipo don enjoy di policy since di past two months.

Our source for di hospital say na only poor women dey qualified to enjoy di free C-section.

E tell us say dem get dia own ways of checking who go fit afford di cost of surgery and who no fit, say if afta dia checks and true true di pesin still no fit pay, dem go free am to go home witout paying.

Di standard cost of C-section for FMC Ebutte Metta Lagos na minimum of 148,000 and di patient go still purchase some materials dem need for di surgery.

Di hospital say dia standard na to care for di patient first and afta dat dem go collect moni. Di hospital say even bifor di programme, dem no dey ever send away patients sake of say dem no gree pay.

Nigeria wey be most populous nation dey witness 1,047 deaths out of evri 100,000 women. Di kontri na number one for kontris wey get di highest maternal mortality rate for di world.

Dem dey attribute most of di deaths to lack of access to C-sections. Dis na part of why Nigeria govment introduce di free C-section to help poor and vulnerable pregnant women.

Many pregnant women especially for rural areas for Nigeria dey unable to get emergency medical care, most times sake of di cost.

Some of di causes of maternal deaths include severe haemorrhage, high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia), unsafe abortions and obstructed or prolonged labour.

How a pregnant woman fit benefit from di programme?

Dr. Onwe say getting di National Identification Number (NIN) na di basic requirement to access care under dis programme.

Di pregnant woman gatz get valid National Identification Number (NIN) from NIMC office. Sake of dis, NIMC Centre dey for UPTH to make accessibility easy for di women.

Dr. Onwe note say di programme no just dey for any woman as dem get scope of coverage wey be say na strictly for pregnant women:

.She gatz be poor woman wey no fit afford di treatment and she no get any health insurance. Di target na for di vulnerable groups.

.She gatz come in an emergency as di scope of coverage include women wey fit come down wit postpartum haemorrhage - dat na bleeding in pregnancy; women wey get eclampsia or pre-eclampsia, dat na women wey get convulsion or swollen legs during pregnancy.

.Women wey get obstructed labour. Dis include women wey don dey labour for long and if you leave dem, dem fit die and even lose dia baby.

.Women wey get post-abortion complications, instead of make dem die for rural areas, dis programme dey take care of dem.

. Women wey get sepsis, dat na women wey don dey labour for long time and dem develop infection wey fit claim dia lives and/or di life of di baby.

Pregnant women wey fall under any of dis categories and come under emergency and get dia NIN na im fit benefit from dis programme.

"Dem no need to dey registered for antenatal with di hospital, na emergency cases. Once dem come in within 48 hours, dem must don get dia NIN. Na di NIN na im dey admit dem into di federal govment Cemonc programme," Dr. Onwe add.

Impact on maternal mortality

As Nigeria get record as di kontri with di highest rate of maternal morality rate for di world, dis programme get any impact since e begin?

Dr. Onwe say, "I fit confidently tell you say di impact dey significant, though dia fit no be any statistics at di moment, but from di experiences we don get and di lives we don save, we know say we don get positive impact on both di mother and di babies and pipo don testify to am.

"We still dey gada our statistics, so we fit come out with concrete figure to buttress am," e tok.

Di programme dey sustainable?

As di Cemonc programme dey totally free of charge, di question of sustainability dey rise but Dr. Onwe say e dey sustainable for di scope of women wey e dey cover but na for di federal govment to continue di good work.

E say now di govment dey do well but for di future if anoda govment come, e go good if dem sef key into wetin dis present federal govment dey do and no change or stop am.

"On our part, di programme dey sustainable as we ready to provide di needed services even if dem come for midnight, so far say dem fall under di criteria, e dey sustainable on our part. We also pray say di federal goment as dem dey do now e good, but for di future I no fit tok, na for federal govment to answer dat question."