Pregnant women and nursing mothers have endorsed the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for second term.
According to them, Sanwo-Olu has continuously exert pressure on the resources and infrastructure of the state towards reducing stunted growth, promote safe and healthy delivery as well as child spacing and family planning, especially among indigent pregnant women.
They stated this at the Phase IV of the Mother, Infant and Child Development (MICHD-2050) programme organised by the Office of Civic Engagement at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday.
The Special Adviser, Office of Civic Engagement, Dr. Aderemi Adebowale, said the initiative, which was launched by the governor, is a component of the administration’s WOMB TO SCHOOL INITIATIVE, which is a preventive rather than curative security measure geared towards making Lagos safer by 2050.
According to her, the MICHD-2050 programme is an initiative that looks at security from conception to birth, adolescence and adulthood.
She said it is dedicated to providing weekly nutritious food packs and pregnancy education to aid proper foetal brain development and safe delivery as well as enhance preventive security by fostering sustainable human capital development, investment and economic growth.
Adebowale said the first phase of the MICHD programme was piloted in 2020 with 2,000 indigent pregnant women, 10 each from 20 LGAs in the State, while the second Phase had 1,140 indigent pregnant women, 20 beneficiaries from the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs, who were divided into a control and experimental group to measure the impact of the food on the beneficiaries.
She said in furtherance to the MICHD-2050 Agenda, the Office of Civic Engagement has compiled the list of another 570 indigent pregnant women across the Primary Healthcare Centers within the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the State for food packs, which contains all the required nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamins, zinc, fat and oil, and mineral).
Adebowale said this will help in proper brain development of the foetus for the next 24 weeks starting from their second trimester till delivery.
She said the fourth phase will also showcase 228 nursing mothers who had earlier benefitted from the postnatal programme, as they will get a maternity box containing baby clothes and baby care articles.
“In an effort to ameliorate the various health based challenges encountered by pregnant women, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu have therefore provided free health insurance via the ILERA-EKO, the program by the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme (LASHMA) . We intend to enlist and deliver free health scheme to all the indigent pregnant women while ensuring regular check-ups and provision of adequate medications,” she said.
