The Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, Gerd Mueller, has advised Nigerian Parents to embrace Family Planning (FP) to promote responsible parenthood.
Mueller on Tuesday during his visit to the Nyanya General Hospital, Abuja, said FP was key in ensuring child spacing as well as promoting their access to quality education and better living condition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that visit was part of the nationwide family campaign project of the German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development.
He disclosed that the German Government from 1995 till date, has supported Nyanya General Hospital with about 200 million dollars, both in cash and kind as part of efforts to reduce rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria.
Mueller said that the German government in collaboration with the Rotary International,  Nigerian Ministry of Health and Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), was assisting in providing access to free contraceptives to women in Nigeria.
“We are trying to encourage responsible parenthood. We need to make sure that the second pregnancy does not come too soon and that the third pregnancy, if need be, is well thought of,” Mueller said.
Dr Ekpe Phillips, the Medical Director, Nyanya Hospital, and an Obstetrics Gynaecologist, described the campaign project as beneficial to the hospital, being a maternal and child care hospital.
According to him, the hospital in the past 20 years has evolved from primary healthcare to comprehensive healthcare and now to secondary healthcare centre.
He  said that the rate of maternal and prenatal mortality in this country was still high and there was need to encourage whatever would reduce it, adding that one of it is contraceptive.
“If a woman delivers more than five children, she is at risk of suffering from haemorrhage and death, following delivery.
“But with contraceptive that will not happen, you can see that apart from achieving responsible parenthood we are able to reduce maternal mobility.
“German government through Rotary International, SOGON and the Federal Ministry of Health, is providing free contraceptives. Once in a while, they also give us equipment in operating theatres here in Nyanya,” Phillips said.
Prof. Dolapo Lufadeju, the Coordinator, Maternal-Child Health Rotary Project, said that maternal death for long time had gone unrecognised, but it had now been brought to the front burner.
Lufadeju said Nigerians were now aware that losing a woman as a result of child birth and pregnancy complications; was not acceptable, as such deaths were preventable.
According to him, in the next six months; about 774 monitoring and evaluation officers at the local government level will be trained to collect the data maternal statistics.
“This will give us opportunity to see the causes of death and how to control or limit it.
“Many reproductive health coordinators and family planning coordinators in all the 36 states have been trained.
“As we speak, community dialogue is going on in all the 36 states and the dialogue is to create awareness, give access to contraceptive, the need to have institution birth and not giving birth at home. (NAN)