UYO
The Akwa Ibom First Lady designate has emphasised the significance of registering the birth of newborn babies, citing a stark reality where many children in the State lack birth certificates.
Lady Helen Eno Obareki stated this during the empowerment programme for Multiple Birth Families, a programme under the Maternal and Child Healthcare thematic area of the Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), at Ibom Hall, Uyo, recently.
Obareki, who is also the coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Akwa Ibom, urged workers at primary healthcare centers, traditional birth attendants, TBAs, and wives of local government chairmen to sensitise mothers in their areas on the importance of registering their children’s births.
“It is important that the birth of babies are documented. My staff gave me a list of 330 babies but when I insisted that all of the babies should have their birth certificates, that number reduced drastically.
“Sensitise mothers on the need to register the birth of their children, irrespective of where the delivery takes place. Even when they give birth at home or at the Traditional Birth Attendant’s place, they should endeavour to get their children registered.
While thanking Gov Umo Eno for his constant support For GIFA, Obareki, who is the chairman of the GIFA board of trustees, congratulated the families on the safe delivery of their twins, triplets and quadruplets.
Obareki, in the company of female stakeholders in the State, distributed care packages to families of multiple birth children to help ameliorate the burden of raising the children.
The special assistant to the governor on general duties, Mrs. Anne Abraham, highlighted the empowerment programme for multiple birth families as a vital extension of the Maternal and Child Healthcare component of the GIFA.
Abraham explained that the programme, which specifically targets families with babies aged 0–3 months, was also designed to support fathers who lost their spouses during childbirth, commending stakeholders and development partners for their commitment to the GIFA vision.
The Akwa Ibom Nutrition Officer, Dr Idongesit Umoh, delivered a health talk emphasising the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
She described breast milk as the perfect first food for infants, vital for brain development and offering natural family planning benefits.
According to her, breast milk should be given exclusively for the first six months before introducing complementary foods, while advocating for a six-month paid maternity leave policy to support nursing mothers, urging mothers to consume a balanced diet and breastfeed their babies a minimum of eight times daily and on demand.
Goodwill messages were received from the commissioner for women affairs and social welfare, Mrs. Inibehe Silas; the executive secretary of the Akwa Ibom Primary Healthcare Agency, Dr Eno Attah and the chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Women Affairs and member for Ikot Abasi/Eastern Obolo State Constituency in Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mrs. Selina Ukpato, who all paid glowing tributes to the memory of Pastor Patience Umo Eno who laid the foundation for the GIFA multiple birth programme and Obareki for sustaining the legacy of impact.
Highlight of the event was the presentation of packages for the care of multiple birth children by the coordinator of the Office of the First Lady and a special practical session, at the ceremony attended by female stakeholders in the State.
A mother of Quadruplets, Mrs. Nseobong Uloh, thanked the coordinator, Obareki, for the love and support extended to multiple birth families, which will significantly ease the challenges they face.
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