The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Child birth

  • China mulls scrapping child-birth limits

    China is considering lifting child-birth limits, which have been in place in one form or another for four decades, state media reported Tuesday.

    A draft of the new civil code submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Monday doesn’t include any provisions related to “family planning,” Xinhua news agency reported.

    The change would effectively remove child-birth restrictions, which over the past decades have limited but also aged China’s population, led to gender-ratio imbalances and have been notoriously enforced through huge fines and forced abortions.

    The draft, which also proposes other measures such as a “cooling-off period” for divorces and measures to prevent sexual harassment, is being discussed by the congress and slated for adoption by 2020.

    In 2016, the Chinese government ended its one-child policy, which had been enacted in 1979, and replaced it with a two-child policy.

    But the change failed to produce the rise in the number of births that the government had expected.

    N fewer than 17.9 million babies were born in 2016, just 1.3 million more than in the previous year and below the government’s forecast total of 20 million babies.

    The number of births further dropped to 17.2 million in 2017.

    Many couples are opting not to have a second child due to the rising cost of childcare in China’s major cities and as women are increasingly pursuing education and career advancement.

    The government is even considering offering incentives for families to have more babies, state media reported in July.

  • Nigeria accounts for 20% of Africa’s births – UNICEF

    Nigeria accounts for 20% of Africa’s births – UNICEF

    Nigeria currently accounts for 20 percent of all the births in Africa, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.

    UNICEF, in a report: ‘Generation 2030 Africa 2.0: Prioritising investments in children to reap the demographic dividend’, also said one in every 13 births globally would take place in Nigeria by 2050.

    UNICEF said special attention is required for Nigeria, given the projected increase in births and child population.

    “Nigeria currently accounts for nearly 20 percent of all of Africa’s births and 5 percent of the global total.

    “Between 2016 and 2030, 120 million births will take place in Nigeria alone – more than all the births in Europe – accounting for 6 percent of the global total for that period.

    “Based on current projections, by 2050, one of every 13 births globally will occur in Nigeria,” the report said.

    The report found that half of the world’s children would be African by the end of the 21st century.

    “In 1950, Africa had just above 10 percent of the world’s children. By 2100, if current trends persist, around 50 percent of all the world’s children will be African.

    “By 2030, the end year for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Development, Africa’s under-18 population is projected to increase by around 170 million, reaching a total of 750 million.

    “By mid-century, around 42 percent of the world’s births, 41 percent of all under-fives, 38 percent of all under-18s, and 36 percent of all adolescents will be African.”

    The report added that almost one billion children would live in Africa by mid-century.

    Based on the population projection, Ms Leila Pakkala, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, urged investment as Africa’s youth population surged.

    “Investing in health, protection, and education must become an absolute priority for Africa between now and 2030.

    “Some 11 million education and health personnel will be needed to keep pace with the projected unprecedented population growth of children in Africa – an increase of 170 million children between now and 2030.

    “We are at the most critical juncture for Africa’s children. Get it right, and we set the foundation for a demographic dividend.

    “This could lift hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty and contribute to enhanced prosperity, stability and peace,” she said.

    The report identifies three key issues for investment: health care, education as well as the protection and empowerment of women and girls.

    It added that to meet minimum international standards in health care and best practice targets in education, Africa would have to add 5.6 million new health workers and 5.8 million new teachers by 2030.

    Ms Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, stressed the need to invest in the potential of the projected one billion children in Africa.

    Poirier said: “If Africa steps up its investments in children and youth now, transforms its education systems and empowers women and girls to participate fully in community, workplace and political life.

    “It will be able to reap faster, deeper and longer dividends from its demographic transition.

    “Conversely, if investments do not occur in Africa’s youth and children, the once-in-a-generation opportunity of a demographic dividend may be replaced by a demographic disaster, characterised by unemployment and instability.”

    UNICEF recommended three policy actions to create the socio-economic conditions for Africa’s coming generations.

    The first is to improve health, social welfare, and protection services to meet international standards; or beyond, in countries close to attaining them.

    Secondly, it recommended Africa’s educational skills and vocational learning system be adapted through curricula reform and access to technology to meet the needs of a twenty-first-century labour market.

    The report also prescribed that Africa secures and ensures the right to protection from violence, exploitation, child marriage and abuse.

    This includes removing barriers preventing women and girls from participating fully in community, workplace and political life; and enhanced access to reproductive health services.

  • LUTH gets diagnostic equipment to ease child birth

    LUTH gets diagnostic equipment to ease child birth

    The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba has taken delivery of a 128-Slice Computed Tomography (CT) scanner for paediatric imaging. The equipment donated by JNCI (Turnkey Medical Equipment Services) will  boost child care in the tertiary hospital.

    The scanner, the latest in the CT scanners range, is revolutionising non-invasive diagnosis. The machine can scan the whole body in seconds and provide incredibly sharp 3D images of any organ.

    The scanner’s ability to spot small tumours, in a check on the lungs for example, or plaque in the case of cardiovascular disease, makes it the preferred option for diagnosis by doctors worldwide.

    The equipment can be used for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The speed and precision of this scanner not only improves the image quality, but also allows experts to look at dynamic processes. Instead of just monitoring changes in tumor size, they can watch the perfusion of a contrast agent as it moves toward, around and through a tumor. This can provide an early view of how a patient is responding to therapy. The 128-Slice CT is one of the most important methods of radiological diagnosis. It delivers non-superimposed, cross-sectional images of the body, which can show smaller contrast differences than conventional X-ray images. This allows better visualisation of specific differently structured soft-tissue regions, for example, which could otherwise not be visualised satisfactorily.

    The donour, JNCI said it made the donation so as to help reduce infant deaths. Its representative, JNCI Managing Director, Mrs Clarie Omatseye said the organisation was able to install the machine for advanced diagnostic treatment and studies in LUTH based on the success story recorded at Elkhart General Hospital Radiology Department, Us.

    Mrs Omatseye said: “The machine can scan the outer part of the brain, abdomen and cardiac area. This is the most advanced CT in Lagos State at the moment. We were motivated by the passion to diagnose diseases early enough. It does not stop there as the technology has been particularly exciting for studying the beating heart, providing the first clear non-invasive images of the heart and its major vessels. The scans can be timed to use only images gathered between contractions, so that the heart and its vessels can be seen without the blurring caused by motion.’

    She assured on its functionality, accessibility and importantly, affordability, “The machine is not disastrous because it has special protocol for children and the radiation is controlled. The cost we will be asking for children is even at half price, there is 50 per cent reduction for all children. Some of our staff will be here to work hand in hand with the hospital staff. We did the installation and we can guarantee that it won’t breakdown, either to power shortage or mishandling.”

    “There are three levels of power supply to the machine- the National grid, hospital generator, and dedicated generators to the 128-Slice CT. On-line medical grid UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) i.e 160 KVA with 101 Battery backup are put up. The On-line medical grid will deliver constant online waves, in addition it has internal regulator to checkmate any fluctuation from the hospital generator or from the national grid. That will protect the breakdown that can damage the equipment. The Online Medical grid will help to supply energy to the 128-Slice CT for up to two days should anything happen to any of the three levels or all of the three levels of power supply. That means any patient that is booked for the day can still be attended to. We did this because there were issues with the maintenance of the other CT scan, such as uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and generating set. Besides, we want to make sure that we are 99 per cent on time anytime there is an issue which the CT. The machine could break down from time to time but I hope that LUTH in view of the patients have a great response time,” she said.

    Head of Department (HOD), Radio-diagnosis, LUTH, Dr Kofoworola Soyeb, said the JNCI installation of  the First 128 slide CT scan in the hospital by JNCI is in order as it coincides with  the International Day of Radiology (IDOR) and that will help to reduce infant deaths.

    According to her, the Radiology Department is interested in rays that can produce excellently what ordinary eyes cannot see. Moreover, “we now know about how to use contrast to study some part of the body. We are targeting a Low-Dose Centre of Excellence for computed tomography (CT). The scanner will be fully digitalised and the patient image/examination data will be fully integrated in the Hospital’s picture achieving communications system. The 128-slice CT scanner possesses the ability to provide CT angiography and CT cerebral perfusion imaging services. The use of 128- slice CT scanner to diagnose a patient with coronary heart disease can decrease unnecessary admissions to the Hospital and decrease the length of stay for those admitted to the hospital. The scanner will help reduce the number of unnecessary angiography studies.’

    Dr Soyebi said: “We are unveiling the CT scan and letting the world know what we are capable of doing. We want to be able to proffer solutions to whatever comes to the Radiology Department. X-ray did not stop at being x-ray, it has always been improving. Now, we have  Computerised Tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound and others at LUTH.”

    Head, LUTH Pediatrics Department, Prof Edamisan Temiye said radio-diagnosis is one of the greatest achievements of medicine.

    This, he said, has improved the care and outcome of childhood diseases, adding that imaging can be used for pseudoachondroplasia and rare rhizomes.

    Temiye said with this equipment, radiologists are given the direction they should go.

    President, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Prof Rasheed Arogundade, said the donation held on International Radiation Day is novel, “event is for remembrance of the discovery of radiology which marked the beginning of medical imaging. The person who discovered the X-ray was not a radiologist so there should be no rivalry among practitioners instead we should all be celebrating. As practitioners, we should work toward the well-being of patients. We should think about patients first.”

    Consultant Radiologist, Dr Bukola Omidiji said children are the wealth of the nation.

    The parents, she said, would miss a lot of work hours when their children took ill.

    Omidiji, who spoke on the Diagnostic Radiologist’s perspective said, pediatric radiology starts from when the child is in the womb of the mother.

    “A paediatric radiologist should work with the diagnostic team and the parents of the children. I urged radiologists to assist in the selection of appropriate imaging X-ray. Ultrasound does not give ionizing radiation, so it is the best for the children. The way LUTH radiology department is right now is not too conducive for childcare; there is no dedicated space for children. Some radiology departments play music to engage the children from getting frightened,’ she said.

  • ‘Early child birth ’ll ensure healthy baby’

    Mothers have been advised to give birth at an early age to ensure a healthy baby.

    A paediatrician at Motayo Specialist Hospital, Ikeja, a private health facility, Dr Chinenye Ananti, said women, who deliver at 35 years and above may be vulnerable to having babies with Down’s syndrome (DS).

    According to her, older women are at a higher risk of giving birth to DS babies than women below 35 years because age is a factor. “The chances are as high as one in 30 births for women at 35 and above and one in 350 births for women below 35,” she said.

    She continued: “Down’s syndrome is a genetic disorder that is associated with maternal age, which can be diagnosed at child birth. Early treatment may reduce other problems, which may occur as the child grows older.

    “In cases of DS there is an extra chromosome called trixono chromosome found at the 21st position of chromosomes found in the body and can be diagnosed prenatally or after birth.”

    According to her, there are 36 chromosomes found in the human body. “They are always found in pairs, but at the 21st position, three chromosomes are found called trioxo chromosome or trixon 21,” Dr Ananti said.

    Most babies born with DS, she said, usually have a hole in the heart, adding that this is one of the problems they have.

    “Majority of them also come down with congenital heart problems. They also have problem with their sight,” she said.

    Growth problems, she said, is also part of what they experience. “Their development process is slow unlike typical children. For instance, if a typical child starts walking at age one, it may take a child with Down syndrome two to three years to walk,” she said.

    The paediatrician said babies with the condition are faced with intellectual disability, saying it is difficult for them to reason very well.

    “Sometimes, they get excited unnecessarily. They also have leukaemia, delayed milestone and low intelligence quotient (IQ),” she said, adding that no DS male has ever been known to father a child, but their females counterparts give birth. “However, they do not usually have too many children because they have fertility problems,” she added.

    Ananti said the governments at all levels are already creating awareness about the condition’s existence.

    The future, she said, is bright for children with DS because there is a society in Nigeria for people ailed by the condition, adding that DS clients of various ages link with one another.

    The specialist said life expectancy for persons with the condition was short in the past, but recently they living up to 50 years.

    She said once a baby is born and diagnosed with DS, it should undergo some tests, adding that the problem should be corrected to avoid recurrence.

    “Many problems will come up as the child grows older. So, they can be managed while he or she is still very little,” Ananti said.

    She urged parents to manage the disorder by following the instructions of healthcare providers. “It is a medical condition that is diagnosed at child birth. It is not a child killer disease, but it can lead to death if not well managed,” Ananti said.

  • ‘545 women die annually during child birth in Nigeria’

    ‘545 women die annually during child birth in Nigeria’

    At least 545 women die during child birth annually in Nigeria, a research carried out by the BBC Media Action has revealed.

    The National Coordinator of BBC Media Action, an NGO, Mr. Yusuf Gusau, made the disclosure on Tuesday in Gusau at a workshop organised for media practitioners and some selected NGOs and health providers on the use of contraceptives and importance of child spacing.

    He said the figure represented 10 per cent of global mortality rate with 545 mothers dying in every 100,000 live births while infant mortality had also risen to 110 in every 1,000 births in the country.

    He blamed the situation on inaccessibility and poor awareness of family planning products and methods as well as poor attitudes of the service providers.

    Yusuf said his organisation, which established another arm known as Expanded Social Marketing Project in Nigeria (ESMPIN), was already working towards creating more awareness in 15 selected states in the nation.

    He further explained that in Zamfara State, the body had selected three communities in each of the four local government areas of Bakura, Bukkuyum, Maru and Zurmi and would soon extend to more areas in the state.

    In order to achieve the set objective, the coordinator said, ESMPIN held a meeting with traditional rulers, religious and community leaders over the use of contraceptives in order to ensure that births were well spaced between children so as to achieve healthier live.

    “We are not in any way supporting abortion but we want to ensure that children are spaced for at least two years in between one birth and the next, so that infant mortality can be reduced to the barest minimum and mothers given enough time to recuperate after every child delivery,” Gusau said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the BBC Media Action is among other NGOs established to help reduce poverty, provide access to media to the rural poor, create awareness, share opinions and shape peoples’ lives so as to develop communities and earn better life.