Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has rolled out the Mother, Infant and Child (MICH) Initiative to address the nutritional needs of 5000 pregnant women across the 57 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
The scheme, a comprehensive nutrition programme to tackle cognitive and learning disabilities in newborns, aims to raise the level of care for expectant mothers in underserved communities throughout their pregnancy periods.
The health initiative, a key component of the Womb To School Programme- a basket of social investments initiated by the Sanwo-Olu administration to facilitate human capital development and to raise socially responsible citizens from the womb through infancy, childhood, and into adulthood, is also to support the development of infants’ brains from foetus to neonatal stage, especially in the first 2,000 days said to be significant in a child’s formative stage.
Speaking at the event on Wednesday, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the MICH Initiative being launched was not just an integral part of the state government’s plan to improve maternal and child condition, but also speaks of its “desire to protect the wellbeing and rights of our women and children in Lagos.
According to him, the state government will be reaching out to indigent pregnant women and cater for their care during the period of their pregnancy in order to ensure safe delivery, healthy mother and child, saying the target was to reach 5,000 underprivileged pregnant women.
He said the affected women would be selected by doctors and specialists in each primary healthcare centre across the state to access the M.I.C.H food packs that contained recommended daily nutritional composition of protein, carbohydrate, lactose, milk fat, fibre, calcium, folic acid and multi-vitamins.
“The MICH Initiative that is being launched today is not just an integral part of our plan to improve maternal and child condition, but it also speaks of our desire to protect the wellbeing and rights of our women and children in Lagos.
“We will be reaching out to indigent pregnant women and cater for their care during the period of their pregnancy in order to ensure safe delivery, healthy mother and child.
“Our target is to reach 5,000 underprivileged pregnant women who will be selected by doctors and specialists in each primary healthcare centre across the State to access the MICH food packs that contain recommended daily nutritional composition of protein, carbohydrate, lactose, milk fat, fibre, calcium, folic acid and multi-vitamins,” the governor said.
Sanwo-Olu said selected beneficiaries would be issued approved MICH Collection Cards individually for the government to monitor the distribution of nutrient-filled supplements on a weekly basis, adding that the initiative would take off in flagship health centres in Ikeja, Badagry, Epe, Ikorodu, Agege, Lagos-Island, Eti-Osa, Alimosho, Somolu, Kosofe and Ibeju.
He said the benefitting pregnant women would also receive quality care and follow-up through home visits by a dedicated team of public and state-approved private community health workers and medical consultants.
Aside the state government’s investment in fully-equipped Maternal and Child Centres (MCCs) in the last two years, Sanwo-Olu said the MICH Initiative was conceived to protect infants from preventable impairment in neurological and physical development.
“We are convinced that there is no better time than now to leverage advanced technology, modern equipment and well-trained health staff to put an end to preventable maternal mortality and disabilities in infants.
“The process of bringing life into existence should no longer lead to the loss of another life; this is why we are initiating policies and investing in the Mother and Child Sector to ensure that we drastically reduce and eliminate maternal mortality in Lagos,” the Governor said.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Princess Aderemi Adebowale, explained that the beneficiaries would go through four stages of care, stressing that expectant mothers would have access to weekly supply of balanced diet, to prevent malnutrition and save the foetus from deficiencies that caused stunted growth.
“Our objective is to ensure that the programme continues to provide free care and supplement packs for underprivileged pregnant women throughout pregnancy. This would prevent malnutrition and save the foetus from deficiencies that cause stunted growth,” she said.
The State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, in his remark, said nutritious diets remained essential supplements required by an expectant mother during pregnancy, stressing that a nutrient-deficient infant would go through irregular brain development that might limit the child’s ability in adulthood.
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