A non-governmental organization, Rotary International in conjunction with Ekiti State government during their quarterly community dialogue sensitized Ekiti people on reproductive health to reduce high rate of deaths, especially among pregnant women and children.
The one-day community dialogue organized by Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health held at Ode Aremu Ward,Okesa community in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday with over 80 pregnant and nursing mothers ,men and community leaders in attendance.
Other health workers in attendance include; officials of Safe Primary Healthcare, Ministry of Health, officials from the Comprehensive Health Centre in Okesha, Ado-Ekiti and Rotary representatives in Ekiti state.
Speaking with journalists, the Reproductive Maternal and Child Health Coordinator in Ekiti State, Ayinde Abiodun said the awareness creation was necessitated by the World Health Organization report on the prevalent high rate of deaths among pregnant and nursing mothers.
She called on the women to prioritize their health during the period of pregnancy at any healthcare facility in the State rather than patronizing quacks saying that it is free for everyone.
According to Abiodun, the community dialogue by Rotary International is done every quarter in the communities of the Program Of Scale facilities(POS) targeted at pregnant women and women of child bearing age who are prone to high death rates in different communities across the State adding that they have trained health workers, journalists, among others, to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality in the state.
Her words: “We are here to sensitize the community people. We have been moving from one community and one ward to another, to sensitize and educate them on those things that can cause the death of women during childbearing, like bleeding during pregnancy or delivery and also what can be done to prevent it.
“We encourage them to register and book during the period of their pregnancy at our facility very close to them so that they will be taken care of at an affordable rate. All the treatments received in all our health facilities are free and therefore it is for them to make sure they come to the facility.
“We want to prevent them from delivering at home or missions because there is no professional in all those places, but when they come to our facility to book which will have their record, we will take care of their pregnancy – that is antenatal care and whenever they fall into labour, they will meet a skilled and able hand to help in their delivery.
“This will help in preventing things that are causing the death of women in their reproductive stage. During their antenatal period any issue will be discovered and given necessary care and management will prevent those deaths.”
The event also witnessed free distribution of mosquito nets and birth kits and awareness on topics such as; good antenatal care, facility delivery, family planning, good nutrition and the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
One of the beneficiaries of the free mosquito net and birth kit, Kayode Angela, thanked Rotary RMCH for distributing the free mosquito nets and birth kits saying that it will help the pregnant women during delivery.
She said: “I want to say thank you to Rotary the organizer of this program, we really appreciate your efforts over us pregnant women and God bless you all.