MARIE STOPES STEPS UP MATERNAL EDUCATION (PAGE 11)

A number of health-related organisations have intensified efforts at initiating projects and programmes geared towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
One of such organisations that is working towards the attainment of MDG 4, which relates to reducing child mortality and MDG 5, which relates to improving maternal health, is the Ghana branch of Marie Stopes International.
The organisation, in collaboration with queens in Tema Manhean, launched a programme to educate the people on maternal mortality in line with the attainment of the MDGs.
Participants were enlightened on improved methods of maternal care and family planning methods and the dangers involved in the use of herbs and other unapproved methods of aborting pregnancies.
Asafoanyemei in Tema Manhean who were present at the forum, expressed concern about the rate at which some women of reproductive age in the area had lost their lives as a result of the use of unorthodox means to prevent and terminate pregnancies.
According to Asafoanye Naa Kortu, there was the need for queens and elders of traditional areas to join hands with organisations engaged in education and provision of care to prevent maternal mortality .
She said teenage pregnancy coupled with school drop out was high in Tema Manhean and called for intensive education by the traditional authority and related organisations to curb the trend.
The Country Director of Marie Stopes International, Mrs Faustina Fynn-Nyame, said the organisation realised the importance of queens as role models in society and their role in offering advice to young women to lead responsible lives.
She advised the people to disabuse their minds of the misconceptions about family planning method and appealed to the queens to meet with the women from time to time to sustain the educational programme
Mrs Fynn-Nyame mentioned unsafe abortion haemorrhage and sepsis as some of the causes of maternal deaths and stressed the need for improved access to good reproductive health to reduce maternal mortality rates in the country
The Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Kraku, expressed concern about the attitude of some women who resort to the use of dangerous concoctions to abort unwanted pregnancies and advised them to seek medical attention at the available clinics by making use of the health insurance scheme.
The participants were later taken through the practical use of modern family planning methods.