Bauchi women demand availability of MMS at facilities for safer pregnancy

By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi

Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board (BPHCDB), has been urged to as a matter of urgency make the Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS), available for pregnant women as the commodity is now out of stock.

The call was made by the Facility in Charge of the Primary Healthcare Centre, Kofar Ran, popularly known as Urban Maternity in Bauchi metropolis, Hauwa Yohanna Adamu, during an interaction with Journalists at the Facility on Monday.

According to her, pregnant women have come to appreciate the MMS in pregnancy and are trooping to Facility but the commodity is no longer available.

She stated that, “There is influx of women for child birth issues. Well, the flow varies, it depends on the booking days and then the revisit days. For the booking days, it varies, we get 100, 120, 150, 160. Minimum we get like 70.”

She further explained that, “Okay, for ANC it’s five days, Mondays to Fridays. But for those days, it’s a booking day. Monday is a revisit day. For most, it starts at the rate that five and above. Tuesdays is for gravitate 1 and 2. Then on Wednesdays, it’s for 3 and 4.”

On the availability of MMS, the Facility in charge revealed that, “Well, some time back, it was quite available and then we distributed it to the clients. But for this year, it’s kind of stocked out. All these women who come to us, they want the MMS.”

Asked if the pregnant women are not getting the MMS, She explained that, No, the MMS, if you look at the package, you can take the MMS for six months. So for the six months we calculated back, there are those that they still have to this February.”

“Okay, for the new people that are coming for this February, to be honest, we don’t have on ground presently. But I believe that it should be made available.”

On what the Facility gives the pregnant women coming, Hauwa Yohanna Adamu said that, “If there is no MMS, we give them fasolate and folic acid, and then we educate them on dietary regimen, what they’re supposed to take to increase their blood because, you know, they’re sharing the blood, the mother and then the baby inside.”

On the issue of anemia in pregnant women, She stated that, “Yes, for the problem of anemia, in this Facility, let’s say in a 100 percent, will get 30% at times. Yes, during MMS, the percentage of anemia really decreased because we do encourage the women to take their supplements.”

She added that, “Some of them do complain about the folic acid and fasolate, but for the MMS, you know, it’s just a tablet in a day, so it’s kind of easy to swallow. And then that side effect, they normally don’t get it. And the level of anemia really drops during that period.”

She then advised pregnant women, to really take care of themselves because “if she takes care of herself, it’s going to benefit the baby in utero. She shouldn’t look at herself as a person, but she should think of what is inside her. So we call on them to always try to maintain their diet.”

“That’s why the hatch, at least we have the locally available food. Even in the house, you can plant some spinach that is an aleho. We have the moringa, which is Zogale, and then we have the beans, which is readily available. So we advise them to make use of those,” She added.

She added,”Then we have this plant, Uwgu, and then we have the other one, Kafii Ugwu. So we also advise them on that. There are things that they can plant inside the house, and then they just take it and cook, and then they stay healthy. So I’m calling on them to really take care of themselves so that the baby in utero will be healthy.

In her remarks during the monitoring visit, Dabis Mwalike, the State Coordinator, Bauchi State chapter of Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition, (CS-SUUN), lamented that, “Yeah, so the situation of anemia is that we have so many pregnant women who are anemic, but thank God for the multiple micronutrient supplements that is being advocated to reduce anemia and also low birth weight, which is also effective for improving maternal and child health.”

She however said that”Okay, it is going on well, as you can see here in this context, where we have women coming for antenatal care, they are receiving MMS supply. And it’s also across other facilities.”

According to her, “MMS has come to stay and MMS constitute about 15 vitamins and minerals. It’s very important. It’s effective for reducing low birth weight. It’s effective for improving the health of mother and children. So we are calling on all government stakeholders as well as partners and donors to continue to support us by providing these commodities.”

Also speaking, the Executive Director of Journalists for Public Health and Development Initiative (J4PD), Elizabeth Kah, stressed that,”As a media practitioner, talking about MMS, the role the media will play is to try to create awareness about the importance of MMS, why every pregnant woman needs to take MMS.”

According to her, “Because, MMS is something that is fortified and has 15 different minerals that will help the mother to prevent anemia and then to have a healthy child. Because if the mother doesn’t take MMS at birth. The mother loses blood, the mother has fatigue, the mother is dizzy, and then the mother comes down and delivers a baby who is low birth or at times stillbirth.”

“So MMS is very important and the role the media can play is just to create awareness and then hold government accountable that there should be no stock out of MMS in the Facilities so that we stop losing women who are trying to bring a child to this world.”

She stressed that,”You know, all the media can do is work together with the health practitioners because we cannot prescribe how they take MMS, but we know that a woman takes three tablets on a daily basis, so she’s given a bottle of 180 to take for six months. So the media will keep on creating awareness and talking to other women.”

Elizabeth Kah, stressed that, “Let the women come out to tell their stories themselves so that because when you are talking, others will now listen and will be able to know that, okay, this is how we are supposed to take it.”

According to her, “But it doesn’t have any effect on the woman, however she uses it. It doesn’t have any side effect. The most important thing is for the pregnant woman to have access to MMS during her pregnancy.”

In his reaction to the development, Executive Chairperson of the State Primary Healthcare Development Board (BSPHCDB), Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, assured that efforts are on to ensure that the MMS wàá procure and adequately distributed to the facilities across the State.

He stressed that since it was introduced, the issue of amenia in pregnancy has reduced drastically therefore promoting safe pregnancy and delivery.

According to him, the State Government is working closely with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other Partners to ensure that there is stockouts of the commodity.