A non governmental organization known as Survive Fistula Healthcare Foundation (SFHF) which was established to promote rights and access of women and girls including PWDs to affordable and quality sexual reproductive health service, with the vision to reduce preventable deaths and suffering of women and girls from chronic obstetrics complication such as fistula, in their quest to promote sexual and reproductive health right of women with disabilities and the women with fistula condition, on Wednesday in Abuja organized a One Day roundtable meeting for media on the role of men in a safe motherhood.
The CEO Mrs. Peter Ogunmayin in her opening remark appreciated the participants and highlighted some important objectives of the roundtable meeting which is creating awareness via the media on the positive effect of roles of men as KEY intervention to safe motherhood, to equally promote girls and women’s rights and access to quality sexual and reproductive health including Fistula care/health systems.
Speaking further, she said that SFHF has implemented a comprehensive and inclusive women’s health project in Nigeria (CIWHIN) Funded by CBM, and operating primarily in FCT, Zamfara and Katsina for years now. The goal is to improve rights and access to sexual and reproductive health for all women and girls including PWDs.
Mrs Victoria David a program officer at SFHF who briefly gave overview of SFHF & CIWHIN said, the importance of men’s involvement in facilitating women’s access to skilled material healthcare in a patriarchal society like NIGERIA is increasingly being recognized. It became imperative for SFHF to hold media roundtable to discuss those issues as well create more awareness to the general populace on the importance of engaging men in all aspects of maternal and child health, from conception to antenatal to delivery and postnatal to ensure safe motherhood.
Also speaking at the event, Mrs. Fatima Giwa, the head of Reproductive Health Division of Federal Ministry of Health who represented the Director, Reproductive Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Kayode Afolabi, spoke on the government role and suitable accommodation for Inclusive safe motherhood. She highlighted some focus areas, government most needed to safe motherhood.
– Advocacy & Community Mobilization for support
– Capacity Building ELSSI (Doctors), LSS( midwives), MLSS (Chews)
– Standards and tool development ( Clinical Protocol, Job AIDS etc)
– Research Development
– Supportive Supervision, Monitoring and Evaluation.
She equally highlighted four cordial pillars of safe motherhood in Nigeria.
- Family planning
- Antenatal Care
- Clean/Safe Delivery
- Essential Obstetrics Care.
She also stated some services government have working on to enhance safe motherhood such as
Family Services
Respectful Maternity Care
Paternity leave for men
Provision Ambulance
Mobile Clinic in the rural communities
The Use of transport operators to aid easy conveyance of pregnant women to avoid prolonged labour
Inclusion of Male Midwifery Programmes
She used the medium to advise men to always key to safe motherhood, provide their support from Antenatal stage till delivery.
Bar. Tessy Nnalue, Director Orientation and behavioral modification, NOA appreciated the organizer and Initiative.
She promised that NOA as an organization will partnership with SFHF to sensitize and create awareness down to the grassroot.
Omar Zubair I, Assistant Director Women Development Department, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, in his speech said that the ministry is launching a program for easy access of pregnant women to have an interaction with the doctors without physical engagement.
Other dignitaries at the event were
HRH, Zakari Abubakar, Gwagwalada Palace,
Winnie Tami PRO, FCT Hospital Management Board, Mrs. Hellen Beiyoku-Alase, CEO, Deaf Women Aloud Initiative and
Sulayman Abdulmumuni Ujah, JONAPWD Chairman FCT.
