Why Family planning is key to healthy children, resource allocation

By Ebele Egoh

The Officer-In-Charge  of Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), Onitsha, Mrs Virginia Chiezie has described Family Planning (FP) as key to having healthy children.

Mrs Chiezie said this during an interaction with journalists in her office at the said PHC in Onitsha, Anambra State.

She listed the benefits of family planning and advised couples to religiously imbibe the family planning tips to ensure good health for the unborn children and the mother, and for proper allocation of resources.

“Family Planning enables parents to plan for their unborn children based on their resources. 

“It ensures that children get adequate nutrition, good education and good health.

“Spacing your child will enable the mother to have enough rest in between child birth,’’ she explained. 

The officer applauded `The Challenge Initiative (TCI)’, a non- governmental organisation for renovating Christ Church Primary Healthcare Centre under 72 hours, stressing that this gesture made access to family planning services more comfortable for families. 

Mrs Chiezie noted that the Christ Church Primary Healthcare Centre is now wearing a new look; its Family planning section well equipped with state-of-art facilities, including a Television set.  All the activities were provided under 72 hours by TIC”

“Before now there were minimal accesses to family planning services because of ignorance of its benefit, and due to mass sensitization, people come in mass to access FP services

She, then, observed, “women enjoy their marriages now; they do not nurse any fears of getting unwanted pregnancies, they feel more relaxed.’’ 

The TCI collaborates with the state government to promote family planning activities in the state and training of health workers on different methods of the planning, choices and their benefits.

Mrs Chiezie thanked the Government for making available FP commodities in all the Primary Healthcare Centres of the state, adding that FP services were free of charge in Anambra State. 

She attributed reduction in the number of  women  that die in pregnancy and childbirth-related  complications to proactive involvement  of the state government in creating  FP awareness.

Mrs Chiezie debunked the unfounded rumours making the rounds that Family planning makes a woman to be fat and barren.

Women are advised to shun `such dim-witted rumours’ because research had shown that family planning methods and services were safe. (MOI)

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