The Daily Trust/AllAfrica on Wednesday examined reasons for the increasing maternal and infant mortality rate in Nigeria, including health services costs and lack of medical workers. According to the U.N. Development Programme's 2006 human development report, a large number of Nigerian women are giving birth without the assistance of trained medical workers because they cannot afford to go to a hospital, which is increasing their risk of infant and maternal death. According to the UNDP report, 12% of the poorest 20% of Nigerian women have access to skilled medical care during childbirth. The report also says that 200 of every 1,000 infants born in rural villages in the country die before age five. No more than 28 doctors are available for every 100,000 Nigerians, and poor women often cannot afford to pay for their medical bills, the Daily Trust/AllAfrica reports. "Cost is the No. 1 factor in women's choice of how to have their babies delivered," Chuks Asogwe, a physician at Blessed Trinity hospital in Mararaba, Nigeria, said, adding, "Many women cannot afford to come to a hospital at all. So many women patronize the church to deliver their babies." According to the Daily Trust/AllAfrica, the Ministry of Health hopes to increase by 50% the proportion of women and men who can recognize pregnancy-related warning signs and seek medical attention (Hamzat/Walker, Daily Trust/AllAfrica, 12/13).

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