BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
In a bid to reduce the rate of preventable deaths and complications in mothers and unborn babies in Ebonyi State, Rotary Club, Abakaliki district 9142, has intensified war against malaria in pregnancy in women.
President of the club in Abakaliki, Clever Okorie, during a sensitization campaign with the theme, ‘Importance of early antenatal care services during pregnancy,’ enjoined husbands to support their pregnant wives and sisters in a bid to ensure early and regular attendance of antenatal visits to the hospital for appropriate care.
Noting that this would help to curb preventable maternal and child deaths, Okorie stressed the need for women to engage in exercise during pregnancy.
The women were taken through the right types of exercise to embark on during pregnancy and were to always ensure that they sleep under insecticide treated mosquito nets so as to prevent malaria.
As part of its contribution, Rotary Club distributed some mosquito nets as well as drugs to improve medical services delivery in some of the health facilities in the state.
Okorie said, “We are here at the Maternal and Child Health Center, Azuiyiokwu, Ebonyi State for the Rotary monthly project for the month of December. This project is geared towards eliminating malaria during pregnancy among pregnant women in the state.
“We all know that malaria is a killer sickness especially during pregnancy. The project is basically on disease prevention and treatment as well as teaching the pregnant women the importance of exercise and the best types to embark on in pregnancy without inflicting harm on the unborn baby.
“We donated mosquito nets, some drugs and many other materials to the centre and the pregnant women. They are advised to pay regular antenatal visits to the centre for their wellbeing and that of their babies.
“I encourage husbands to assist/support their pregnant wives, not just with home chores, but to accompany them once in a while to the health centre to acquire knowledge. You know, two good heads are better than one.
“I am sure that coming around would help them improve their knowledge about the mother and the unborn child so that in any case the mother forgets he can remind her to guarantee a healthy and happy home.”
Corroborating him, the former President of the club, Virginia Aloh, enjoined the women to make good use of the mosquito nets that they were given for maximum protection against malaria.
The Matron in charge of the Health centre, Odey Elizabeth, lauded the club for the timely donation, stressing that the importance of malaria prevention, especially during pregnancy, could not be over-emphasized.
“I feel so happy about the kind gesture by the Rotary Club of Abakaliki. They shared nets to the pregnant women, gave test kits and some drugs to ensure efficient service delivery. The kits would help us with pregnant women having malaria to treat them promptly.
“Malaria in pregnancy causes many things like underweight babies. If a pregnant woman has a malaria attack, for sure, it would affect the quantity and quality of blood she shares with the baby.
“The unborn baby would be suffering from insufficiency of blood and nutrients from the mother, which often causes delivery of the baby below average weight of 2.5kg. In that case, the mother would suffer anaemia in pregnancy which can put her life at risk.
“Not just that, malaria in pregnancy would also lead to lack of breast milk after birth. So, the importance of preventing malaria in pregnancy, through the use of mosquito-treated nets among other measures, cannot be over-emphasized.”
