September 10, 2018
By Regina Pratts
Some of the participants during practical session
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has last week organised a week’s training of trainers on the use of family planning so as to reduce the high rate of maternal mortality in the country.
Speaking to one of the participants at the end of the training on Friday, September 7, at the Bo Government Hospital, Dr. Roland Williamson Taylor, who doubles as the Gynecologist and Superintendent of the Hospital, said the training was meant for people who needed family planning, especially the Inter Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD).
He said the device is used just after delivery and that they would be training other personnel on how to insert the IUCD on women, stating that their families and the communities will also benefit from the training.
“Family Planning is part of reproductive health and getting the skills to do post-partum Inter Uterine Contraceptive Device or Coil which is a rubber metal combination that is inserted into the womb of the woman, we need to train more personnel,” he said.
He further that the service was not only in Bo Government Hospital but countrywide, adding that the training they have just completed was how they will provide family Planning to women who have just delivered their baby within 10 minutes to 48 hours before going home.
Dr. Taylor said the method could also be used by women six weeks after their delivery when they are in the hospital for checkup, adding that it was a roll out program as the intension of the ministry was to train more service providers and master trainers
“This is a particular type of IUCD provision, and if you don’t get it right, that can create problem for the womb of women, with the risk of bleeding, infection and also perforation of the womb.”
He noted that as a participant in the training, he will train more nurses and also pass on the information to the Ante-Natal clinic.
Dr. Taylor thanked the Reproductive section of the ministry of health and also UNFPA for their support in partnering with the ministry to end maternal mortality in the country.
Another participant, Sister Memuna Bome, observed that as maternal mortality rate was high, family planning was one of the strategies embarked on as a key factor to combat the rate by introducing the IUCD.
Dr. Francis Smart, Reproductive Health and Family Planning Manager, in his welcome address, said they were very grateful for UNFPA’s support in assisting them introduce the strategy that would be most needed in the reproductive health sector.