By Solomon Ayado
he harsh economic recession in the country has forced many people to withdraw from attending private hospitals and shift to seeking medical services in the public healthcare facilities which, hitherto, were not well patronised. SOLOMON AYADO writes
About 40,000 women and 241,000 newborns die in the country annually from pregnancy and other related complications.
Lack of family planning was also said to have accounted for 610,000 abortions, a rate of 25 abortions per 1000 women aged 15 – 44.
A professor of obstetrics and gnaecology, and Country Director, JHpiego Corporation, Prof Emmanuel Otolorin, made the disclosure at the weekend during at a Family Planning Media Roundtable in Abuja.
Wife of the Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki has advocated for better health and gender data collection to allow families and health professionals track the progress of a pregnancy, register birth and record immunisation and health information.
Mrs Saraki, who is the founder and president of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), made the advocacy in a keynote address she delivered at the Cambridge-Africa day hosted by the University of Cambridge, Emmanuel College, United Kingdom.
Bayo Akinloye
Saving Mothers, Giving Life Initiative has concluded a week-long, global team-building meeting sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development in Calabar, Cross River State.
The five-year, $18m US government initiative is a public-private partnership that addresses the three primary delays associated with maternal and newborn health: the delay in seeking services, the delay in reaching care, and the delay in receiving high-quality care at a health facility.
By Doyiin Ojosipe
Abu’s wife, Ocheme had long wished for a baby girl, she has had three boys already in three years; the fourth attempt was a still birth and just one year after, she got pregnant again with same high hopes of having a baby girl.
Unfortunately, she never made it. She had prolonged labour and was taken for cesarean section- only the baby came safe.
The Federal Government, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) is deploying 1,473 newly graduated basic midwives to Primary Health Care facilities in rural areas throughout the 36 States and FCT.
The deployment is aimed at improving maternal, newborn and child health outcomes and consolidating on the gains of the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) of the Federal Government.
The deployment was announced through a press statement signed by Saadu Salahu Head, Public Relations Unit.
A report presented yesterday, in Abuja, by Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the conference, Dr. Ejike Oji said about 40,000 women die every year from childbirth related complications.
The report is against the backdrop of preparations for the Fourth Family Planning Conference to be held in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The report also indicated that the country’s maternal mortality ratio has hit 576 deaths out of every 100,000 live births daily.
An Islamic scholar, Alhaji Muhammad Hassan, says the concept of family planning has been spelt out in Islam as contained in the Qur’an and tradition of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) long ago.
Alhaji Hassan said this in Abuja at 4th Nigeria Pre Family Planning Conference 2016 (Faith Leaders Response).
The cleric, who represented the Secretary General of Ja’amatu Nasril Islam (JNI), Dr Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, said women in Islam are expected to wean their children after two years.
At least 872 pregnant women out of every 100,000 die during child birth in Cross River due to pregnancy-related problems, an official has said.
The Director-General, Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Betta Edu, disclosed this in Calabar on Thursday, November 3.
She spoke during a High-Level Meeting on "Sayana Press" Scale UP Project organised by Action Health Incorporated in collaboration with UNFPA.
MRS Toyin Saraki, the wife of Senate President, on Thursday appealed to families to space pregnancies for 1000 days for better life, prosperity and good health of the family.
Toyin Saraki made the appeal at the 2016 Women Pre-Conference meeting of the 4th National Planning Conference scheduled for Nov. 7 and Nov. 9 in Abuja.
The pre-conference had the theme `Women and Family Planning in Nigeria: A critical Requirement for Harnessing Demographic Dividend for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”.
