Oak Rural Health Organisation (ORHO) partners Oyo Police Medical Services to share birthing kits to pregnant women

On August 22, 2020 Worried by the high rate of lack of access to proper medical services among rural pregnant women in Oyo state, Oak Rural Health Organisation (ORHO) has, in partnership with Police Medical Service of Oyo State Police Command, distributed birthing kits to pregnant women in Iseyin axis of the state. The distribution which took place at Police Hospital, Iseyin, recently, also served as an avenue for sensitisation of the women on the harmful impacts of female genital mutilation and why it should be desisted from. Speaking at the end of the event, Mr Amos Ajisekola, Chairman of ORHO, explained that the nonprofit took the pain of acquiring and distributing the birthing kits to the women because it observed the high rate of economic inequality in the area which has deprived most of the women access to medical services. With the kits, he said, a part of the burden would be taken off their shoulders and would encourage them to seek medical services in hospitals other than run to “unprofessional birth attendants”, which, most often, they do. “We observed that most of the pregnant women are economically disadvantaged, and as a result, most of them patronise unprofessional birth attendants which lead to dangerous complications. On further enquiry, some of them said they go to them because they could not afford hospital services. “And what makes the bulk of the hospital services is the birthing kit. That’s how we saw the need to make provision for the birthing kits so that the women could avail themselves of professional services in hospitals for qualified birth attention,” Mr Ajisekola said. One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Mukaila Rofiat, expressed gratitude to the organisation, saying the kits would go a long way to help her and other women and encourage them to go to hospitals instead of patronising unprofessional birth attendants.