By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Bauchi State House of Assembly has been reminded of its promise to enact a law that will criminalize failure to attend antenatal care by all pregnant women in the State.
Also, not attending the entire antenatal visits but also refusing to give birth in a facility where skilled birth attendants and other health personnel are available.
The reminder was raised during a One-day workshop on maternal health issues, Organized for Fifty Journalists by the Bauchi Field Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund in collaboration with the Bauchi State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The reminder followed a promise by the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abubakar Y Suleiman, who lamented the high rate of maternal mortality.
Recalled that the Speaker of the House, Abubakar Suleiman had on 29th January, while speaking during a 2-Day High Level Engagement with the State, Local Government Policymakers and Legislators toward improving sexual reproductive health and right, Maternal Newborn Child Healthcare and Nutrition, in Jos, the Capital of Plateau State, said that the legislative arm would raise a bill to ban childbirth at home.
Abubakar Y Suleiman, when asked, answered that, “Definitely, you heard I made mention of this during my speech. It is very important. The issue is that, our people, sometimes they don’t want to do things by themselves. They need to be a kind of a forced through a law.”
According to him, “It’s something that is good for them, but they don’t want to appreciate it. As we mentioned here, all this thing is their right. It’s not even a privilege, it’s their right. But you see, they are reluctant, they are being reluctant, they don’t want to go. They don’t want to go for antenatal activities and so on and so forth.”
According to national data, Bauchi State is one of the states with the highest rate of maternal mortality in the country.
While speaking during a stakeholders and media dialogue to enlighten the residents on the menace, a health specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Seyi Olosunde, reeled out disturbing indices where several babies are lost within their first 28 days.
Abubakar, who was ostensibly disturbed by the data from the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) that three out of 10 women in Bauchi State deliver in hospitals representing 31 percent. The remaining seven which represent 69 per cent deliver at home.
On antenatal, out of 100, 57 pregnant women attend antenatal but end up delivering at home.
The Speaker, had expressed discomfort with health indices, saying that the data represent the true situation of things in the state while vowing to strengthen the legislative oversight function of the House to ensure that the relevant ministries, departments and agencies deliver effective service to people.
He said: “All these things are people’s rights and not even a privilege. What we are considering is to come up with a law that will force women to adhere to antenatal activities so as to reduce the maternal and child mortality we are facing in the state,” he said.
The Speaker stressed that, “So, I think, what we are considering is that, maybe we’ll come up with a law that will kind of force women to adhere to antenatal activities so that we will be able to reduce this maternal morbidity or is it mortality, maternal mortality that we are facing in the State.”
On the statistics given, Abubakar Y Suleiman stated that, “I even wanted to a kind of counter some of these statistics, even though they are alarming, they look serious. And the only way we can reduce those statistics is through the enactment of a law, of a law to enforce antenatal activities and other maternal and child health activities in the state.”
Meanwhile, stakeholders have urged the lawmakers to act fast to save thousands of children from dying under a practice that could be avoided.
A Social Behaviour Change expert with UNICEF, George Eki, said that the legislation could correct some of the cultural norms and harmful practices attached to childbirth.
According to him, “We have witnessed in some rural communities where a husband uses his influence and power to deny his wife and children from seeking medical attention. Some of them don’t see delivery at hospital as necessary. We need to enlighten these people or else these practices will continue to spread with generations to come.”
The stakeholders in the health sector in Bauchi State have raised concerns over the rate of maternal mortality, urging the House of Assembly to fast track the process of outlawing child delivery home.
Leave a Comment