Community leaders tasked on championing maternal healthcare

Community leaders have been urged to champion maternal healthcare in every household in Abuja.
Also, young people are admonished to take responsibility for their reproductive choices.
The Mandate Secretary, FCT Health Services and Environmental Secretariat, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, made the call recently at the commemoration of this year’s Safe Motherhood Day in Abuja.
Fasawe pointed out that despite the naturalness of pregnancy, the reality remains that childbirth is still risky, especially in settings where access to skilled care is limited.
She maintained that many women die not because complications are unavoidable, but because timely care was out of reach, health information was missing, or facilities were under-resourced.
Represented by the director of nursing services in the secretariat, Dr Ijeoma Bada, the Mandate Secretary said that the society must work together to break down the barriers that keep women from accessing care be it ignorance, poverty, distance, or harmful cultural practices, and must ensure that health facilities are not only available, but also welcoming, responsive, and well-equipped.
She stated that improving maternal health is not the responsibility of the health sector alone, as it also requires the active participation of everyone-from policymakers to religious leaders, from husbands to
adolescents, from media houses to civil society organisations.