In light of the rise in maternal mortality brought on by unintended pregnancies, the Ogun State government in collaboration with the Society for Family Health (SFH) has trained healthcare providers, to enable them deliver quality reproductive health services to women of childbearing age.
The training themed, Empathy Based Counselling for Self-Injection-for-Choice State Training-of-Trainers, of SFH Delivering Innovation In Self-Care (DISC 2.0), was held on Wednesday in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Executive Secretary, Ogun State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Elijah Ogunsola, stated that the training is aimed at supporting women’s sexual and reproductive health by using self-care contraceptives, pointing out that most women lack knowledge on self-care contraceptive methods.
He reiterated that the Abiodun-led administration was committed to training and retraining workers to enhance their productivity.
He charged the healthcare providers to see the DISC 2.0 project as an empowerment tool to sensitise women of reproductive age on different contraceptive methods and how they could be administered with or without the support of a provider.
On her part, the Country Manager, Partnership and Collaboration for SFH, Mrs Jennifer Adebambo, commended the state government for its commitment to reproductive health, adding that Ogun had been selected to be part of the 2nd phase of the DISC 2.0 project, to train health providers on the newly approved self-injectable contraceptive; Depot MedroxyProgesterone Acetate-Subcutaneous (DMPCA-SC).
She said the goal of the training was to improve women’s access to quality family planning services through self-administered methods of contraceptives, to further prevent unplanned pregnancies among women of reproductive age.
Responding on behalf of the participants, Mrs Bushirat Adelani appreciated the organiser for the capacity building of health workers, promising that the training would be cascaded in their various local government areas.