Birth Attendants who cut the Umbilical Cord with Broken Bottles .

According to the National Demographic Health Survey, 2008, Ondo state had a maternal mortality ratio of 742 per 100,000 live births with worse indices at the facility level. Nigeria records one of the world’s highest rates of maternal deaths, with the country being the largest contributor of maternal deaths globally and second largest of under – five deaths with India being the first. Most families especially those in rural communities – characteristically uneducated and economically disadvantaged - are at the mercies of spiritualists, and unskilled traditional birth attendants that they consult to deliver their babies. “We trust the outcome will be divine, we never trusted government hospitals” explains 60 year- old Taye Idowu in Yoruba. Taye is part of a corp of maternal health evangelists, mostly reformed traditional birth healers under the Ondo state government's 'Agbebiye' programme – an incentive based referral programme. The TBAs are encouraged to refer their ‘patients’ to the orthodox clinics and earn money. She and others in the 18 local governments of Ondo State are part of the Agbebiye Initiative – a community – based approach and a primary health care model aimed to further improve community ownership to reduce maternal health to zero. Taye and her colleagues were part of the trade of traditional birth healers they use broken bottles to cut the umbilical cord immediately the women deliver their babies, some get home and die from infection. more