Provision of essential obstetric care (EOC): a sine qua non to reducing maternal mortality rate in Nigeria.

Nigeria's maternal mortality rate has been on the increase even after the launching of the Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) 16 years ago. The causes of this increase are well known, and mainly result from inability of a health system to deal effectively with complications, especially during or shortly after childbirth. Shortage of health professionals and health facilities equipped to offer EOC and emergency obstetric care 24 hours a day are significantly related to quality of care and maternal mortality rates.