Maternal mortality: Expert advocates more male involvement in Family Planning

By Isaac Ukpoju

Contraceptives

Lafia, March 19, 2020 (NAN) Dr Ibrahim Adamu, the Director of Public Health, Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, has urged men to champion child spacing initiatives in order to reduce maternal mortality and enhance family welbeing.

Adamu made the call at a 3-day media content development workshop organised by Pathfinder International for journalists in Lafia, which ended on Thursday.

He decried the poor attitude towards Family Planning (FP) services in the state, a situation he attributed to socio-cultural issues and stigam.

According to Adamu, “the awareness level of Family Planning services in the state is quite high, but only One in Six women of reproductive age in the state are accessing the services”.

He said that the maternal mortality rate in the state was worrisome and called for concerted effort by stakeholders to change the narrative.

“The maternal mortality rate in Nasarawa State is above 800 per 100,000 life births and we believe that the effective utilisation of Family Planning services could reduce it by 30 per cent,” Adamu added.

He said that the state government had made available FP  commodities in health facilities, especially at Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state for easy accessibility.

Adamu noted that the input and encouragement from men would go a long way to increase the utilisation of FP services and its benefits in the state.

A cross section of women interviewed during a field exercise  at Angwan Maina Primary Healthcare Centre in Lafia attested to the inherent benefits of child-spacing to their health and family wellbeing.

Malama Aisha Abubakar, a 27-year-old mother of seven, said her husband encouraged her to access FP service after her last child.

Aisha said: “I get pregnant six months after delivery, and I now  have seven children from my 11 years marriage.

“It was for this reason, to safeguard my health, the health of my child and lack of economic power to cater for our children that my husband encouraged me to go for FP.”

The case of Mrs Victory Emmanuel, a mother of two, is however different as her husband refused to give his consent to access FP, but she had to go ahead considering the benefits.

She said: “I told him but he kicked against it, that FP kills. He is a very learned man and I tried to convince him but to no avail.

“I decided to go ahead considering the benefit to my health and my children. Now I am strong, my children are healthier and we are happy.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Somto Atuanya, the Communications and Media Officer, Pathfinder International Nigeria, said the workshop is aimed at equipping journalists to influence policy makers on issues of FP through their reportage. (NAN)

IU/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola