Infant Mortality a major Impediment to Family Planing – Expert

The Chairman Technical Committee, Association for the Advancement of Family in Nigeria (AAFN), Dr. Ejike Oji, said infant mortality is a major impediment to the acceptance of family planning by women.

Dr. Ejike Oji said this at a meeting, that mothers tended to procreate more children out of fear of possible deaths of some and slim realities of survivors.

“Many women because of high mortality rate feel better having more children with fear that few are likely to survive.

“They will think to make more children in a situation where they continue to experience child mortality, so they prefer to live by chance of having many so that few will be alive at last,” he said.

Oji blamed the development on the poor health system, called for policy-driven family planning services.

“There was a need to strengthen the country’s health system to address the unmet maternal needs.”

He urged massive advocacy by all, the only way to move the country to demographic transition was to have a total fertility rate of four per cent.

Dr. Okai Aku of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria affirmed a stronger collaboration with AAFP to engage journalists in the advancement of family planning.

Family planning could not be implemented without the direct engagement of journalists.

He however urged journalists to always be aggressive in amplifying the benefits of family planning.

Felicia/Punch