The Mother and Child Hospital in Akwa Ibom, commissioned nearly a year ago, remains closed, raising concerns about its impact on women's health in the region. According to Premium Times, the facility's inactivity is failing to serve the community it was intended to help.

The State House health monitoring unit has identified several challenges contributing to maternal deaths in Bududa, Uganda, during a two-week visit to local health facilities. The team, led by Dr. Stephen Ataro Ayella, the assistant Director for northern Uganda, reported on the poor health delivery affecting expectant mothers in the region.

During the celebration of International Women’s Day 2026 in Uganda, Kayunga District emphasized the urgent issue of lacking a functional ambulance at Bbaale Health Centre IV, which endangers the lives of expectant mothers. The event, themed "Scaling up Investment to Accelerate Access to Justice for All Women and Girls," highlighted maternal health concerns while health workers pointed out the critical infrastructure gap affecting emergency services.

A report published on Wednesday revealed that over 500 mothers and babies experienced potentially avoidable harm or died as a result of inadequate care at a UK hospital, marking a significant maternity scandal in the country. This inquiry is noted as the largest of its kind in the UK.

Healthcare stakeholders in Nigeria are advocating for the adoption of home-based care as a strategy to decongest hospitals, according to Punch. The stakeholders argue that shifting certain medical services into patients' homes would improve access to care while easing pressure on overstretched health facilities. They also say the approach could create employment opportunities for nurses. The push comes amid ongoing concerns about overcrowding in Nigerian hospitals and the need for alternative models of healthcare delivery to meet growing patient demand.

Gynaecologists have called on West African governments to invest in family planning, arguing that high fertility rates and rapid population growth are contributing to insecurity and extremism across the region. According to the report by Punch, the specialists believe that better access to family planning services could help address the underlying pressures fuelling instability, and they urged authorities to prioritise funding for such programmes as part of broader efforts to tackle regional security challenges.