The Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Agency, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, has revealed that despite enlightenment about the benefits of childbirth spacing and its acceptance, some religious leaders believe that spacing the number of children is interfering with the will of God.
Mohammed made this revelation during an interactive session with members of Bauchi State Public Health Media Network in Bauchi.
According to him, because of the high rate of maternal and child mortality which is becoming worrisome in the state, many couples now see the need to space their children to protect the health of the mother and child.
“The need for family planning and child spacing cannot be overemphasized because we recently discovered that one of the causes of more than 200 deaths in the northern part of the state is an unplanned pregnancy.
“The report is not officially out, but investigations reveal that it is one of the leading cause of death in that zone, so we have a lot of work to do in terms of enlightenment because if you lack information, there is no way your behaviour can change. So what is health education? it is getting information, understanding it and then changing your behaviour,” he said.
He advised childbirth spacing providers at health facilities in the state to ensure that they monitor their patients in regards to the different methods of family planning commodities they select as some of the commodities have side effects on the bodies of their patients.
