By Olaitan Ganiu
No fewer than 50 expectant mothers in Mushin Local Government Area (LGA), Lagos State have benefited from a free medical treatment and awareness programme offered by the Sanusi Cares Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
This was carried out through its safe motherhood project.
The pregnant women also got free medical test on blood sugar, blood pressure, HIV and other medical services. According to the founder, Sanusi Rasaq, the primary aim is to assist people by creating an awareness programme on health, education and as well as environmental advocacy.
Rasaq explained that the foundation was born as a result of the challenges his wife underwent during pregnancy due to complications the doctors described as Placenta Previa, and later diagnosed to be placenta abruption.
“Two years ago, my wife had pregnancy and she spent seven days on bed rest, but due to early detection by medical experts in Lagos State University (LUTH), she and the baby survived. This actually motivated me to start the NGO to create awareness on the common placenta complications in pregnancy so as to reduce deaths among pregnant women and avert similar cases like my experience in the future,” Rasaq said.
The keynote speaker, Dr. Abosede Lewu, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, described placenta complications as one of the major killers of pregnant women in Nigeria. She said placenta previa and placenta abruption were hazardous and might lead to the death of mother and child.
Lewu, however, urged the women to take antenatal visits seriously as proper monitoring of pregnancy would prevent complications, such as placenta previa and placenta abruption. “Every pregnant woman has to go to a hospital it doesn’t matter how experienced you think you have or how many children you’ve had before or how peaceful your previous experiences have been, just like every child is different, every pregnancy is different, every woman has to go to the hospital. We are advocating that don’t be sick until you go to the hospital because you will always spend more money, so it is best to go early when you are healthy even if there is any problem you catch it at a very early stage.
“In the case of placenta abruption where it separates from the womb, a baby can suddenly stop moving, a baby may not be growing appropriately, the mother’s sugar and blood may be low, so many things like malaria, all those leading causes of death among pregnant women can happen if you are not getting adequate monitoring.”
Chairman, Mushin Local Givernment, Emmanuel Bamigboye, said Nigerians should take their health seriously and shun self-medication.
He praised the group for its gesture. “The government alone cannot meet the health needs of our population, but with the contribution of Sanusi Cares Foundation, it will encourage other NGOs to carry out similar initiatives,” he said.
Leave a Reply