Maternal Mortality: Pregnant Women Get 'Mama Kits'

pmnews-placeholder

In an effort to reduce maternal mortality in the country , the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has provided “mama kits’ for pregnant women to encourage ante-natal attendance.

‘Mama kits’ contain hospital requirements for expectant mothers.

Dr. Ado Mohammed, Executive Director of the agency, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

“Besides encouraging women to come to the facilities, we also provide them with ‘mama kits’ so that when they come, there is no complain that my husband has not provided me with ‘mama kits’ for safe delivery.

“That also encourages them. The kits has the normal materials that a woman brings when she is coming to deliver.”

Mohammed said facilities that used to witness three birth per month now record 40 births per month while in some facilities about 100 attend ante natal care in a month.

He said the development had renewed confidence in the health system.

Mohammed added that a lot had been achieved as more women now attend ante natal care and also demanded for services in terms of skilled attendant.

Related News

“As you know, a major cause of maternal mortality is women not being delivered by skilled attendants and a significant proportion of that is being tackled now.”

According to the director, the remarkable achievement is that 1,000 facilities have midwives running 24-hour service.

He said the government intended to scale up efforts at providing facilities in order to improve on maternal mortality and fast track the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four and five.

NAN recalls that in 2010, the Federal Government introduced the scheme as a way of reducing the maternal mortality rate in the country.

As at the end of 2010, the scheme had employed and deployed 4,000 midwives to 1,000 facilities in a cluster of four primary health care centres linked to a general hospital.

The government said it would take on additional 2,000 midwives, 1,000 community health officers, 1,000 community decision workers and about 6,000 village health workers in 2012 due to the success recorded so far.

Again, about 500 facilities would be scaled up nationwide in order to have outreach services so that the services being provided would not be only facility-based but extended to the communities.

Load more