Prof Oladapo-Alabi Ladipo, the President emeritus, Association for Reproductive and Family Health, says Nigeria is among the countries with the highest maternal mortality ratio in the world.
Ladipo said this in Abuja on Thursday during the 6th Local Organising Committee (LOC) meeting ahead of the 8th Nigeria Family Planning Conference slated for Dec. 4 and 6.
He said if the concept of Family Planning (FP) was promoted in the country, it would help to reduce death arising from maternal mortality among women.
He said that family planning would help to reduce the high rate of pregnancies among women, adding that many women and girls usually got pregnant at the ages of 18, 16 and below.
According to him, the National Library of Medicine National Centre for Biotechnology Information, puts Nigeria delivery ratio at 512, 100, and family planning is the answer to help us reduce maternal deaths.
“We are losing women and they are dying silently in the rural areas and even in urban areas because of our dysfunctional healthcare system.
“Family planning can help to improve the quality of life and save more mothers from dying unnecessarily. With Family Planning, you will reduce all the high risk pregnancies that women usually have.
“With Family Planning, it will assist the government to plan very well for its citizens,” he said.
Ms Asmau Joda, a member, Board of Trustees (BOT), Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) urged Nigerians to be realistic with the family planning concept.
According to her, family planning is not aiming at stopping people from having children, but targeted at effecting proper planning system for the country and individual.s
“A family that is not properly planned will not do well.
“If a woman gives birth every year for three years, she has not had time to regain her strength, between each child given birth to, her body should be back to shape.
“Family planning is also about thinking on how to feed your family properly, educating and providing shelter. If you don’t do this, then you are actually not having a good family,” she said.
Earlier, Dr Ejike Oji, the Chairman, LOC for the forthcoming family planning conference said the meeting was the 6th series in preparation for the forthcoming conference scheduled for December with international participation.
“Our budget is about N300 million, as we speak we have raised more than half of the money which shows major interest by donors and partners who feel family planning is an important thing,” he said. (NAN)
.++
