In the bid to further reduce maternal mortality to the bearest
minimum in Ondo State, the Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko
has said the state government is making arrangements to give loans to
traditional birth attendants in the state to quit the business of
midwifery and embark on other profitable ventures.Mimiko stated this at the one-day dissemination meeting with clergies and stakeholders on Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Death in Ondo State (CEMDOS), held in Akure the state capital on Tuesday.
The CEMDOS Bill which was passed into law in 2010, are intended primarily to assess the levels, causes of and contributors to maternal mortality and to learn lessons to address these.
The Governor, who said that the CEMDOS report is not to punish anyone for their action or inaction which led to maternal mortality, said there is already a law in the state which spells out penalty for any individual or organisation which fails to report cases of maternal mortality.
He therefore said from next year (2014), the state will commence prosecution of any individual or organization which fails to report cases of maternal death under their watch to the right authority in the state.
Mimiko also appealed to stakeholders in the state not to relent in the sensitization of women on the need for them to stop patronising tradition birth attendants, but seek the service of qualified medical personnel, particularly the state-owned Mother and Child Hospital which charges zero fee for child delivery and ceaserean session.
He said: “What is killing pregnant women at mission homes and traditional birth centres can be handled by doctors and nurses under 5-minutes. Traditional birth attendants no longer have roles in this contemporary society.”
Mimiko who boasted that the state has achieved MDG-4 and 5 beyond all reasonable doubt, said
“we can reduce maternal mortality in this state to over 90%, if we all join hands together and decide to do it”
The State Chairman of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), Kikelomo Adeniyi in her remarks assured of the readiness of her group to embark on sensitization for women across the 18 local government areas in the state from next year.