NGO seeks partnership with FG on treatment of postpartum depression

NGO seeks partnership with FG on treatment of postpartum depression
NAN-HG-4
Partnership
By Yashim Katurak
Abuja, Feb. 6, 2018 (NAN) Dr Onyedikachi Ekwerike, President, Postpartum Support Network (PSN) Africa, has called for partnership with the Federal Government in providing adequate sensitisation and treatment of women with postpartum depression.
Ekwerike made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that the organisation would mostly target rural communities in its sensitisation and awareness campaign.
Ekwerike said that the organisation has over the years grappled with lack of resources and unavailability of manpower to carry out its sensitisation across the country on postpartum depression.
He said that this also prevented it from providing the necessary adequate support in treatment of the condition to women across board.
Ekwerike said partnering with the federal and state governments, individuals and stakeholders would enable the organisation run an extensive programme dedicated to postpartum depression across the country.
“This will enable us also tackle issues relating to this condition, give women the medical training and support they require to manage the condition and possibly prevent it from even occurring.
“Women who suffer from postpartum depression do not have a good relationship with their infants as the mother and child face difficulty in bonding with each other.
“This will affect the overall development of the child and the woman is more likely to have a child that is living with a wide range of behavioural issues.
“We also need more psychologists and psychiatrists in government owned hospitals and even in primary healthcare centres where these women go to for ante-natal and post natal care.
“We do not have any collaboration for now with the federal government but we hope we can develop this partnership soon.
“Mental health awareness and treatment is not something that is taken seriously in this country more so maternal mental health, but we need to start from somewhere in addressing the condition.
“This is because the condition affects women greatly by putting them at risk of death by suicide.
“We also hope to develop a partnership with the Lagos state Government, specifically its Ministry of Health.
“Even though the state government has been very supportive by opening up the government owned hospitals in the state for us to provide this support to women we hope for more collaborations,” Ekwerike said.
He said that with the cooperation of the Lagos state government, the organisation has trained and provided support to women in 10 hospitals in the state in 2017.
Ekwerike said that the organisation hoped to reach out to 10 rural communities in the state and also train nurses on how to be emotionally intelligent this year.
According to him, “we have observed that sometimes the nurses themselves contribute to the problems these women already face.
“So we will train 100 nurses across the state and the training will be tagged ‘nursing with emotional intelligence’.
“We hope to extend our training programme on postpartum depression to other states like Portharcourt and the FCT,” Ekwerike said.
NAN reports that the organisation from Sept. 7, 2017, to Jan. 5, 2018, held training for 150 nurses and 20 medical doctors on how to identify and provide support to women suffering from postpartum depression in Lagos.
The training was part of its effort at tackling the rising cases of postpartum depression in the state.
Postpartum depression is a serious mental illness that affects one in seven women after childbirth. It is a treatable medical condition.
Women who experience the condition experienced one or more of the following: mood swings, anxiety, sadness, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, crying and reduced concentration.
Others include appetite problems, insomnia and difficulty bonding with the newly born baby. (NAN)
KRY/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola