31 Weeks of Impact through Free Maternal Health Care Services

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31 Weeks of Impact through Free Maternal Health Care Services

For the past 31 weeks, the Seventh-day Adventist Hospital, Ile-Ife has been giving back to humanity through the Free Maternal Health (FMH) project. The program was conceived as an intervention for the high maternal mortality rate in the country.

It was discovered in research that 1 in every 22 pregnant women in Nigeria risks losing her life during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum. Although, there are several reasons for this high death rate but the most common is the increasing poverty rate in the country. Seventh-day Adventist Hospital, being a mission hospital with a mission statement of service to God and humanity, started this project on the 23rd of May, 2022. The aim is to allow 2,000 poor pregnant women access free quality maternal health services from conception till delivery. The range of care includes routine tests (scans inclusive), scheduled antenatal visits, consultation, and delivery (either through caesarean section or vaginal birth) – all free.

This program is specifically for women who are poor in the community. It is to ensure the free care is enjoyed by those that really need it. The hospital intends to hit the 2,000 target within 12 months of start and at the time of writing this article about 860 women have been enrolled. The success report includes more than 360 free deliveries with at least 109 caesarean sections – all done free of charge.

However, these services are not in any way cheap with an estimated budget of ₦532,000,000 or $760,000 to cover the free care for these needy women. The hospital calls on well-meaning Nigerians, organizations, politicians to help make this vision a reality and save pregnant women by donating to the project.

The Management of the hospital actively solicits for support for these needy pregnant women. Indeed, the more funding is available, the more the number of needy women that will be saved from needless death during childbirth. For donations and enquiries, please contact Dr. Oludayo Olosunde (Chief Medical Director) or Dr. Jesutola Adewumi (Project Manager) via these emails: admin@sdahospitalife.org  or support@sdahospitalife.org. Remember – mothers matter. More details can be found on the project website – https://fmh.sdahospitalife.org.

Below are few of the testimonies of the beneficiaries of the program;

“We thank Seventh Day Adventist Hospital for the free maternal health project. We appreciate them for the free health care and for taking good care of us. The Doctors are good and professionals. We did not lack anything and everything is obtained for free. God will continually help them.”                                                                                                                                                Olamide Jimoh

“We thank Seventh Day Adventist Hospital for the free treatment given to us, which has been without stress or any complications. We pray that they will not experience affliction or frustration by God’s grace. They will always be comfortable. The hospital will always move forward. We are really grateful, thank you very much.”                                                                                                                                                                                                     Oloyede Dorcas