Safe Motherhood: RSG Raises Alarm Over Birth Outside Health Centres

Rivers State Ministry of Health has raised alarm over the number of births outside medical facilities in the state.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry, of Health, Dr. Utchay Chikanele made the observation during this year’s Safe Motherhood Celebration tagged, “Access to Quality Maternal Care: A Right to Every Woman.”
She regretted that the number of new born babies delivered in medical facilities in the state dwindled last year despite the statistics that registered for antenatal care.
In her words, “Rivers State with a target population of 1,883,706 women of child bearing age, 14,734 pregnant women, 1,712,460 under five children and 342,492 infants, only 14,734 which is 34.4 percent registered for antenatal care in 2021, out of which only 12, 218, which is 3.8 delivered in our health facilities”.
The Permanent Secretary used the occasion to call on mothers to utilise the 386 primary health centres and 18 functional secondary health facilities owned and operated by the state government, as she reiterated the state resolve to curb maternal mortality.
She stated that right to health is a basic human right that every woman should enjoy, as she revealed that about 800 women die daily in pregnancy and child birth and 8million suffer serious pregnancy-related illnesses and disabilities.
Underscoring  safe motherhood as one of major planks of the Sustainable Developmental Goals(SDG) Dr. Chikanele observed, “no woman going through pregnancy and child bearing should suffer any injury, loose her life or that of the unborn baby.”
To reverse the trend, Chikanele enlisted the support of local government chairmen, community leaders, husbands and the society at large to encourage mothers to use medical facilities and ensure that their new born are delivered in hospitals with support from medical experts.
She assured that the state government will continue on the quest to boost safe motherhood by engaging in enlightenment campaigns and sensitisation through the media and engagement of stakeholders in the sector across board.