Child spacing is panacea to maternal deaths

A medical expert has said embracing child spacing through one of the contraceptive methods is one of the panaceas to high maternal mortality rate among women of child-bearing age.

A consultant gynaecologist at the Specialists Hospital, Gombe, Dr Garba Muhammad, disclosed this during a roundtable discussion with the media and religious leaders, to create awareness on the importance and access to family planning services.

He said adopting any method of the family planning services will reduce maternal deaths as well as improve both mothers and children’s health.

Muhammad added that creating space between child births will give opportunity for women to recover fully from lost energy during delivery and also take good care of their infant child.

He, however, cautioned women against patronising quacks for the services.

“Most of the cases of maternal mortality and other illegal abortions, are usually caused by unwanted pregnancies due to refusal or failure of some women to adopt family planning services,” he said.

A religious scholar, Malam Dawud Muhammad Abubakar, said Islam is not against child spacing, “as it was about improving women and children’s health.”

The Director of Saif Advocacy Foundation, Malam Alhassan Yahaya, said the roundtable was organised to create awareness in order to reduce the high rate of maternal deaths recorded in the state.