Kaduna govt records 28% increases in skilled birth delivery, 148% in family planning
By: Femi Mustapha
The Kaduna state government has recorded an increase of 28.3% in facility delivery after the adoption of the Group Antenatal Care intervention project in the state.
The state also recorded a 148% increase in Post-Partum Family Planning from mothers who took up child spacing after/family planning immediately after delivery.
The state’s commissioner of Health, Dr. Amina Mohammed-Baloni, made this known during the G-ANC project dissemination meeting held in Kaduna to present the Fact sheet of the project.
The intervention, according to her, was aimed at helping to fight maternal and child mortality by improving the number of pregnant women that visit healthcare facilities for antenatal.
Dr. Baloni said over 309,751 pregnant women were enrolled in the G-ANC intervention in 23,220 cohorts in Kaduna and the proportion of women who booked at gestational age, which used to be less than 20 weeks, rose from 11% to 30%. She added that the number of women completing ANC increased from 26 to 44%.
According to Dr. Baloni, facility delivery in Kaduna rose from 73,563 to 102,571 (28.3% increase) with over 90,000 deliveries by skilled birth attendants after the implementation of the G-ANC.
She added that the “Proportion of ANC Mothers that returned to the health facility within 72 hours after delivery for Post Natal Care (PNC) improved from 29 to 82%. Mothers that take up family planning methods immediately after delivery (Post-Partum Family Planning), had a 148% increase from 11% to 2 post-implementation.
“These outcomes for G-ANC intervention justify its adoption as a policy, for a model of care that would significantly reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality in Kaduna state.”
While calling on pregnant women in the state to visit primary and secondary healthcare facilities to access antenatal care, Baloni noted that the state has a challenge with maternal mortality and infant mortality and this is the kind of intervention that we thought will help. A lot of women don’t come for antenatal as required. Antenatal is important for us to pick out who will potentially have a problem and whether the child or the mother needs to be followed up to have a safe delivery. This intervention, we found, has greatly improved the number of people that come for antenatal. You have heard the testimonies and we hope. That we will go at scale.
“We will have places where women interact with each other and healthcare professionals and encourage each other to continue to subscribe to this intervention.”
In her remarks, the Executive Director of TAConnec Dr. Lilian Anommachi explained that TAConnec in partnership with the Center for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP), was able to achieve setup cohorts in four hundred and eighty-one primary Health care facilities in the 23 LGAs of the state.
She added that the G-ANC program currently implemented by one of TAConnect’s Technical Assistance Providers CIHP has helped in reducing maternal mortality and child mobility in the state.
Similarly, Executive Director of CIHP, Dr. Bola Oyeledun said while Antenatal Care (ANC) conventionally takes the form of a one-on-one consultation between a pregnant woman and her healthcare provider, G-ANC integrates the usual individual pregnancy health assessment with tailored group educational activities and peer support, with the aim of motivating behavioural change among pregnant women, therefore improving pregnancy outcomes, and increasing women’s satisfaction.
Speaking in the same vein, The Director, Strategic Engagement of TAConnect, Balarabe Ibrahim Gaya explained that the 309,751 women enrolled were spread across 32,220 Cohort in the state.
According to him, the maternal mortality and child mobility of 453/100,000 live births are worrisome, but kind the intervention of projects like G-ANC the record has reduced.
He stressed that a lot of women don’t come for antenatal as required even though Antenatal is important to pick out who will potentially have a problem and whether the child or the mother needs to be followed up to have a safe delivery
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the event, Dr. Francis Ogrima, the Technical Director on G-ANC for CHIPS, said that with the support of the Kaduna state government, the intervention will be scaled up to other health facilities in the state.
According to him, ” This was tested in a few health facilities and has shown excellent results. Once Kaduna takes the lead by stepping it down to other health facilities, we are confident we will have improved not just in skilled birth attendants, but also in delivery taken by skilled health care workers. We should improve the eight antenatal visits, which is the current recommendation by WHO.”
