The United Nations Under Secretary and Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr Babatunde Osotimehin has said that 30 per cent of maternal mortality can be eliminated with birth spacing.
Making the disclosure when he paid a courtesy visit Tuesday on the minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammadu Musa Bello, he said birth spacing is one of the most important interventions that has been identified, that has actually worked to reduce maternal mortality.
He said, “ So, when we have the opportunity to make the choices and decide when we want to have children, it actually enables them to have a baby, then recover from the trauma, and then decide when to have the next one.
“What we’ve done and will continue to do, I recall that in 2012 when I visited the Secretary-General, we tried to encourage that these decisions are taken as a household, counselling both the husband and the wife, and they take a decision as to what birth spacing method they will like. And, we’ve saved considerable number of lives with that. If you put it in the context of Metrix, 30 per cent of maternal mortality can be eliminated with birth spacing. This is huge and it’s cheap. This has been here for a long time.” Calling for the minister’s collaboration, Osotimehin said another intervention that has helped in reducing maternal mortality and what UNFPA is advocating is the issue of early marriage.
She explained, “When a girl of nine or 10 gets married, and she carries a baby at 11 or 12, she is not ready to carry a baby; the body is not there yet. And when she incidentally gets pregnant, she is now in a situation when she can’t even access good quality care; the possibility of dying from carrying that baby is very high.
“So, we at UNFPA, will like the honourable minister be part of that campaign to allow women and girls to mature. It is not just to mature physically, but intellectually, go to school, stay in school and then contribute substantially to their communities. We’ve seen what has happened to women who were allowed to go to school.”
The UNFPA chief executive said the delegation he came with from the British government is going to talk about ensuring that Nigeria address the issue of maternal and child health, particularly reduction of maternal and child mortality, and making sure that it can provide birth spacing commodities for women, everywhere in Nigeria.
“But, that is not to say children are bad, no. It is to say the quality of life that children have needs to be assured.
It doesn’t matter what number you choose to have, but you have the number you can provide for, that you can feed, that you can clothe, you can educate, and you can provide healthcare. That, I think, is the essence of this. And, we will work with the Nigerian government at any level to be able to do achieve.
By: Winifred Ogbebo, Abuja
Leadreship News
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