Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State

The Bayelsa Government has decided to take its Safe Motherhood Initiative, a campaign aimed at reducing the high rate of mother and infant death during childbirth in the state, to churches.

The Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogaha John-Jonah (rtd.) said this on Tuesday in Yenagoa at a meeting with Christian leaders in the state.

Gboribiogaha said that the aim of the project was to ensure that no woman or infant died during delivery.

“I don’t know of any group of persons that can reach every community in Bayelsa state than the Christian community, because every community has a church.

“Over time, people have been in the habit of politicising genuine government policies for reasons they have not been able to explain.

“Because this project is dear to us and we don’t want anybody to politicise it, we decided to take it to churches,” he said.

According to him, the state government has built cottage hospitals in all the 105 wards and referral hospitals in all the constituencies across the state to ensure the success of the initiative.

Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Iworiso Markson, said that number of maternal and infant mortality in the rural communities was frightening.

He said that government expected churches to preach the safe motherhood initiative like the gospel, according to the News Agency of Nigetia, NAN.

“We have already built health centers across the state.

“Therefore, if all the church can do now is to encourage our pregnant women to register with hospitals close to them, we have done the greatest good.

“The initiative is designed in such a way that every pregnant woman that registers for the programme will receive N3000 monthly allowance.

“Her hospital bills during and after delivery will be fully paid by the state government,” he said.

Also, a consultant obstetrician with the Federal Medical Center, Dr. Andrew Igbefa, admonished church leaders to desist from encouraging women suffering from complications during and after delivery to go only to church for prayers.

Igbefa said, instead, such women should be referred to the nearest hospitals.

He identified the common causes of maternal death to include bleeding during pregnancy, labour and delivery, hypertension, obstructed labour, sepsis and unsafe abortion.

According to the consultant the number of deaths arising from such conditions which could be prevented if the pregnant woman is given the right education is very high.

“Some pastors go about telling pregnant women that have delivered through CS in the past that prayers can make them deliver naturally as if delivery through CS is a cause.

“This is one of the greatest causes of maternal death in Bayelsa state.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Religious Affairs, Samuel John-Peters, commended the state government for involving the church in the campaign.