The Medical Director, General Hospital Epe, Dr. Oluseyi Adesola has reiterated the importance of maternal and child healthcare, saying it cannot be overemphasised as it leads to longer and richer lives.
Dr. Adesola spoke during the World Patient Safety Day that was observed to unite and improve patient safety globally, noting that this year’s theme “Safety Maternal and Newborn Care” focuses on significant risks and harm caused by unsafe care during childbirth.
Emphasising the need to curb the rising cases of maternal mortality in Epe, the Medical Director stressed that all stakeholders must convene to discuss ways to tackle the problem and promised to get involved in the process.
His words: “I am going to commit myself to get involved by creating a work plan to address the issues raised so far”.
While advising residents of Epe to make good use of the newly commissioned Maternal and Child Care Centre, Dr. Adesola noted that most of the services delivered at the facility are free and pointed out that the ILERA EKO initiative has immense benefits for residents who subscribe to the scheme.
Delivering a lecture at the event, Dr. Olufemi Afolabi, a consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, highlighted the objectives of the World Patient Safety Day to include raising global awareness on maternal and newborn safety issues, especially during childbirth; engaging stakeholders to improve maternal and newborn safety, through effective and innovative strategies; calling on all stakeholders to scale up efforts to “reach the unreached” for safe maternal and newborn care; and advocating for the adoption of best practices at the point of care to prevent risks and harm to newborn babies and women during childbirth.
Dr. Afolabi explained that restricted access of those in the riverine areas to proper healthcare delivery contributes to increased maternal morbidity and mortality.
"The barriers of maternal and newborn care are availability, adequacy, affordability, acceptability and approachability. I am mostly concerned about those in the riverine areas. To access pregnant women from there is always difficult, we need to find a way to solve this problem by setting up posts in each of these riverine communities with nurses and a link to enable us have access in case of emergency" he said.
He also encouraged the traditional birth attendants to work closely with the General Hospital to acknowledge their limits and make prompt referrals.
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