**4. Maternal and prenatal health in Nigeria**

Globally, 2.4 million children died in the first month of life in 2019 alone approximately 7000 neonatal deaths every single day, most of which occurred in the first week of birth—about 1 million dying on the first day and close to 1 million dying within the next 6 days [38]. Most of these neonatal deaths happen in developing countries such as; India, Pakistan, *Nigeria*, China, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and the

United Republic of Tanzania [38, 39]. In Nigeria, the number of neonates that still die of preventable/treatable causes and diseases as of 2020 is as high as 38 per 1000 live births [40, 41].

Similarly, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 830 women die from pregnancy and child-related causes every day, and 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing nations [42]. It is pertinent to note that nearly 20% of all global maternal deaths happen in Nigeria [43]. Compared to other developed countries, a Nigerian woman has a 1 in 22-lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum/post-abortion. In contrast, in the most developed countries, the lifetime risk is 1 in 4900 [43].

With these alarming statistics and the prevalent climate change health effect on maternal and neonatal health outcomes, the mortality numbers might not decrease at the desired pace suggested in the Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG) and Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG) nationally and globally, respectively.
