Douglas Ibunge, Port Harcourt
In efforts to encourage pregnant women access to antenatal care and reduce the rate of maternal and child mortality, Rotary Clubs in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have donated bags of delivery kits to 60 expectant mothers in Port Harcourt.
The outreach was jointly done by Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Garden City, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt South, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Seaport, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Esara City and Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Passport, at Model Primary Health Centre, Okija Street Mile One Diobu, Port Harcourt city.
The Rotary Clubs which have female Presidents made the donation to mark Maternal and Child Health, which is one of the area of focus in Rotary International and the theme for the month of July in the Rotary calendar.
President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Garden City, Karina Igonikon said the aim of the gesture was to get more indigent mothers to register for antenatal services at health centres in the State.
Igonikon said the bags of delivery kits we encourage the mothers to access the health facilities for necessary medical care, to ensure the good health and safety of both the mother and the baby in her womb.
“Many pregnant women don’t register for antenatal and sometimes they are not regular. So we thought as female Presidents of our clubs, what can we do to attract them to the health center so as to access the services provided by the antenatal clinics?
We did a needs assessment and working with the health workers at the health centre, came up with this idea to provide this delivery bags for the women in this densely populated area, as a way to encourage the mothers to come for antenatal.
The target is as these mothers go home with this bags, they would show and tell their neighbours and friends this is what we got at the health centre so they can encourage others who have not registered to come and do so.”
Igonikon noted that many mothers that die at childbirth often die from issues that could have been addressed had they registered early for antenatal clinic, as such the need to encourage more mothers to come to health centre to access this care.
“Often times we see that many pregnant women come to the health centre to deliver, they don’t register for antenatal. Some would prefer to go to traditional birth attendants or massagers and may only come to the heath centre when there are complications and by that time it’s may be too late to save the mother or the baby and sometimes we lose both.
So we are taking on this advocacy to encourage them to come and register early to save both them and their babies.”
On her part, President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Seaport, Victoria Ockiya-Jackson observed also that with the harsh economic realities in the country, many pregnant women may not be able to afford the list of delivery items given to them to come with to the hospital and this may cause many of them not to come to the clinic.
“That is why we decided to provide this delivery pack that have all the essentials that is needed for a woman coming to deliver her baby.”
Also speaking, President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Passport Rtn Bibian Uchenda Okogbule, President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt South, Nene Sokaribo Iyalla, encouraged the pregnant women to maintain a healthy lifestyle and daily exercise so they would be healthy and have a easy delivery.
They further noted that a healthy mother means a healthy baby, adding that when the mother is healthy the whole family is healthy and happy, making the a better society
One of the beneficiaries of the gesture, Mrs. Rachel Harry appreciated the Rotary Clubs for providing them with the delivery packs as most of them were fining it difficult to get the things on the delivery list.
“This is a big gift and a relief to us because it has not been easy with the way things are now. This bag is really a blessing and I thank the Rotary Clubs for thinking about us. May God bless them.”
Picture: Some of the beneficiaries of the free delivery kits donated by Rotary Clubs, at Model Primary Health Centre, Okija Street, Mile One Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
