By Ruth Oginyi, Ugonna Utulor
The wife of the chairman of Ikwo local government area, Mrs. Theresa Orogwu, on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, organised a training workshop for Ikwo women on how to prevent obstetric fistula.
The training, which was held at the council headquarters at Onuebonyi Echara, was anchored by Health Initiative organization, HACEY, a non-profit organization that’s focused on improving the health and productivity of vulnerable and underserved populations in Africa with a focus on women and girls.
According to her, an obstetric fistula is a health condition that results in a hole in the birth canal. It occurs when a mother has prolonged, obstructed labour and doesn’t have access to emergency medical care, such as C-section.
Death due to obstetric fistula is common in rural areas where many die during childbirth for lack of professional prenatal care, and thus fail to identify the presence of the condition.
Speaking at the workshop, Orogwu stated that she was committed to improving the livelihood of every Ikwo woman and girlchild.
She noted that she organised the training, with the full support of her husband and chairman of the local government area, Stephen Orogwu, as a way of reducing mother and child mortality rate in the area.
She encouraged pregnant women to register with a health facility as soon as they discover they are pregnant. They were also encouraged to go for professional assessment in hospitals whenever they felt sick rather than resort to self-help.
Topics on the proper raising of children to prevent teenage pregnancy, delinquency, and other untoward acts were also highlighted. Parents were advised to start sex education early and to train their kids to have the fear of God.
Participants who were drawn from across the 20 wards in the Ikwo local government area thanked the LGA for the workshop and promised to take back the message to their villages and help ensure more women know about the dangers of obstetric fistula and how to prevent it.