NURHI:  Best family planning advocate – Child Spacing Clients

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By: Joy Odor/Kaduna

The Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) has proven the best health care advocate Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) on Family Planning interventions aimed at ensuring that maternal and child mortality are drastically bring to its barest minimum in Kaduna State and Nigeria in General.

This was attested by Kaduna-Based Journalists during their tour of NURHI support facilities at Gambo Sawaba General Hospital, Kufan Gaya in Zaria Local Government Area, Primary Health Care (PHC), Centre Tudun Wada,  and PHC Babban Dodo in Zaria, Kaduna State respectively on Thursday, 6th of September, 2018.

Reportcircle reporter who was among the tour was shocked on the number of child spacing clients, hospital attendants, staffs and the doctors that was commending NURHI in their foresight in building, furnishing and equipping child spacing unit with commodities and consumables in hospitals and PHCs across the 23 local government of the State during an interviews.

According to them, it is only NURHI or 1 and 2 NGOs that have taken keen interest in supporting State governments in its efforts to ensure that maternal and child mortality is reduced through several awareness, training of Nurses, conducting outreaches to educated couples on the need to embrace child spacing including media capacity building on how to report under-reported issues relating to child spacing.

At the Gambo Sawaba General Hospital, Kufan Gaya in Zaria Local Government Area, the Head of Nursing Department, Nurse Sefiya Magaji said NURHI’s intervention has transformed the unit, which is now known by most women as “NURHI” unit.

She pointed out that 10 years ago, the hospital is not much aware of child spacing methods which resulted in many women seeking to terminate abortions.

“Like before, there is no family planning, people are not aware. You will see a women, she is carrying a small baby and at the same time carrying pregnant so when they come, they will request for an abortion and in general hospital we do not terminate pregnancy regardless whatever your condition is but we will only admit and take care of them.

“With the coming of NURHI with the child spacing methods, various methods are now available, people are aware and it is free. Because of NURHI intervention people are trooping in for the family planning including the men.“Some time if we do not receive maternal death due to our refusal to grant them abortions, we will receive septic abortions because they will go to untrained person to terminate the pregnancy and at the end they come back with septic abortion. At times, we will end up removing their uterus because it has been damaged.

“They might end up having secondary infinity and will not give birth again, because of all this issues, we now strongly advised them to go for child spacing of their choice to avoid abortions and unwanted pregnancies that will lead to their deaths.

“Now, we have fewer requests of abortions, few child and material deaths in our hospitals. We are more and more happy than before as we see our women in good conditions, healthy, accepting and accessing child spacing methods.

“NURHI has been with us for a long time, they have trained so many of our staff, renovated the FP unit, and today we don’t need to beg women to come for FP services. Even some women come here with their husbands and the challenges here are minimal”. She noted.

Also speaking, the Child Spacing Provider at PHC, Babban Dodo, Nurse Halima Nato explained that most of the drugs at Unit are free from NURHI, and has greatly increased the number of clients visiting the centre to over 75 weekly.

She however, appealed to the state government and NURHI, for expansion of the unit, because it has become too small for the number of clients coming in on a regular basis.

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