By Debo Akinbami
*Ondo donates SOLAYO Birth Kits to Pregnant Women
Wife of Ondo State governor, Arabirin Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has identified poverty as one of the many reasons women die during pregnancy. She said this, today, in her address at a programme held at Akure South Local Government Secretariat in Akure, Ondo State Capital, to mark the 2021 International Women Day.
The theme of the programme was “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a Covid-19 World.’
Mrs. Akeredolu said, “There are so many reasons our women still die due to pregnancy and birth-related complications, the most prominent being insufficient or lack of access to antenatal care and unskilled birth delivery. We have looked at the situation in Ondo State, and found out that the common denominator is poverty.”
In celebrating the Women’s Day, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu gave out free ‘Solayo Birth Kits’ to indigent expectant mothers in the 18 Local government areas of the state under the SOLAYO safe motherhood initiative to over 1000 indigent pregnant women all over the state through the local government chairpersons. Mrs. Akeredolu started this initiative in the year 2019 and has been giving no fewer than 1000 SOLAYO kits annually to indigent women in the Ondo state.
She said, “Many women cannot afford the necessary items required for delivery and as a result, they seek traditional birth attendants or religious homes instead of visiting a hospital or health centre. Unfortunately, many of these women do not live to tell the stories as both mother and the new born die in the process.”
Mrs. Akeredolu, who regretted that many women cannot afford the necessary items required for delivery at the hospitals and as a result seek traditional birth attendants or religious homes where unfortunately, many of them do not live to tell the stories, said she has a goal to to reach out to 5000 pregnant women with free birth delivery kits at the end of 2023.
“The IWD2021 celebration this year marks the third edition of the Solayo Safe motherhood Initiative and will see 1000 pregnant women receive free birth kits. The past 2 editions enabled us to save the lives of not less than 1080 expectant mothers, and promote skilled birth deliveries in Ondo State. We intend to sustain this initiative even beyond this administration. Our goal is to reach out to 5000 pregnant women with free birth delivery kits at the end of 2023”, she said.
In her words, “We do not want this to be the story of Ondo State women. This is why we are distributing the Solayo Birth Kits to indigent expectant mothers today. You do not need to worry about the money to buy the required delivery materials as they are contained in the bags which will be given to you free of charge. All you need to do is visit the hospital or health centre when it’s time, and a medical expert will attend to your needs using the materials provided in your Solayo Kits.”
Meanwhile, the Coordinator for Maternal and Child Health, Mrs. Dada Juliet Oluwatoyin, reiterated the need for women to register for ante-natal care. She encouraged them to adopt family planning options and desist from indulging in self medications during pregnancy.
