NGO sensitises 50 women on utilising RMNCH facilities in Bauchi
An NGO, ‘Women, Child, Youth Health and Education Initiative’, WCY (H&EI) sensitised 50 pregnant adolescent mothers on utilising Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) facilities in Bauchi state.
The Executive Director of the NGO, Mrs. Rashida Mukadas, said the sensitisation held in Kafin Madaki PHC in Ganjuwa Local Government Area(LGA), on Thursday was to save lives.
She said, ” it was also to improve nutrition and promote productive living for women, children, and youths through adequate educational opportunities.
”It was equally important to improve the quality healthcare system and economic empowerment opportunities towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
“The sensitisation was to make community members see the need for improved care before and after birth to significantly reduce mother and children mortality rate during delivery,” Mukadas said.
She said that the sensitisation will also encourage women to visit hospitals regularly and consult specialists, rather than resort to home remedies and self-medication.
The WCY (H&EI) boss said the programme would check teenage pregnancy, which she said was a key factor in complications in pregnancy and childbirth.
“RMNCH covers the health concerns and interventions across the life course involving women before and during pregnancy, as well as newborns in the first 28 days of life and children in their fifth birthday.
“Advocacy and sensitisation are a continuous process and our organisation tries to enrich access to health, education, and governance.
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“It also promotes maternal neonatal health in and outside Bauchi state,” she said.
The executive director said that Kafin Madaki was the second community visited after the Bauchi metropolis, adding that the 20 LGAs in the state would be sensitised by the NGO.
She said that the organisation would revisit the communities for feedback.
Speaking, Mrs. Haleemah Ahmed, a PHC staffer, said that most pregnant adolescent mothers come for antenatal care but prefer to deliver at home.
She said the sensitisation would encourage them to deliver at the facilities where they attended antenatal rather than at home.
Ahmed said the women had complained of lack of funds as a reason for giving birth at home, adding, ”the sensitisation addressed how to plan for expenses for delivery from the first month of pregnancy.”
One of the beneficiaries, Hajara Usman, on behalf of other participants, promised to impart the knowledge acquired to other women of reproductive age.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NGO later distributed hand sanitizers and nose masks to the PHC staffers.
