In a move to create awareness of the direct and indirect costs of
stillbirths, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, Founder-President of the
leading maternal health NGO - Wellbeing Foundation Africa, today spoke
with the BBC to call for improvements
in health education and access to primary healthcare – key elements to
reducing stillbirths around the world.
Mrs. Saraki, who tragically lost one of her
twins due to failures in the Nigerian public health care system,
stated:
"I was fighting for one life and bewildered how to mourn the
other life… People did not know whether to congratulate or commiserate
with me."
According to Mrs. Saraki, this experience informed her decision to
co-author the third report in the Lancet ‘Ending Preventable
Stillbirths’ Series launched on 19th January 2015, titled Stillbirths:
economic and psychosocial consequences. In this report, Mrs. Saraki and
WBFA provided a unique perspective on stillbirths in sub-Saharan Africa;
sharing interventions such as the WBFA Personal Health Records, the
Foundation’s emergency obstetric and newborn care training with Johnson
& Johnson and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and their
work on Respectful Maternity Care for new and expectant mothers.
Sharing with the BBC, the WBFA Founder further stated:
"Stillbirths
often go unrecorded, let alone lead to counselling. This is why I
started the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, which works to improve
reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health across the
continent."
Mrs. Saraki also participated in a short section for BBC Hausa and BBC
Online where she shared what women should do during pregnancy to prevent
stillbirths, sharing information on monitoring pregnancy and measures
that can be taken to save newborns.
Her interview with Sophie Ikenye of BBC Focus on Africa TV, is due to be shown at 5.30pm (GMT) on January 19 on BBC World.
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