A health-based NGO, Pathfinder International, on Tuesday in Abuja advised Nigerians, especially women, to access family planning services as a way of addressing maternal mortality.
A 2020 report by the WHO puts maternal mortality rate in Nigeria at 814 in 100,000 live births.
The report states that the lifetime risk of a Nigerian woman dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum or post-abortion period is one in 22.
This, it added, is in contrast to the lifetime risk in developed countries estimated at one in 4,900 women.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, Pathfinder International’s Communication Officer, Mr Bayo Ewuola, said family planning goes a long way in preventing maternal deaths.
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He added that family planning was vital for healthy and economically-stable homes.
He also called for increased government’s funding for family planning services.
“Family Planning is all about child spacing and it requires government’s funding all the time to achieve the desired goal.
“Funding is very important to enable every conversation around family planning realisable,’’ he said.
The Communication Officer expressed the commitment of Pathfinder International to family planning, and said it would continue to partner with the media and other relevant stakeholders to achieve the goal.
(NAN)
