A non governmental organization, Naila Foundation has canvassed for support through raising awareness and creating avenues to support maternal health complications for women affected by pregnancy and infant losses in Nigeria.
At a launch and fundraising event held in Abuja on Wednesday, the foundation said its objective is to create psychological aid systems to support women and families who have experienced the trauma of pregnancy and infant losses.
Speaking at the event, Founder of Naila Media and Naila Foundation, Nadine Ibrahim shared her experience of losses, saying she has found a way into helping others who have had similar experiences.
She said; “After two pregnancy loses in one year. In this time, three of my closed friends had babies. I was so happy for them but couldn’t understand why it wasn’t happening for me. So I decided I needed to see a therapist. I found comfort in speaking about my feeling which was an important part of my healing process. Therapy for me helped me understand my thoughts better.
“I’m still working through my emotions and honestly I still do have some bad days, but if one in four women experience pregnancy losses in their lifetime, this means there are so many women like me going through this. In Nigeria I know this is not spoken about, so I decided to channel my experience into helping women going this similar trauma.”
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and a former Minister of Environment of Nigeria, Mrs Amina Mohammed and mother of the organizer, Nadine Ibrahim in her address said; “This is just the very beginning of what we do here in Nigeria. There are many support systems out there, but this is one, and we don’t have to wait for government to do it, perhaps by doing it ourselves we will be the standard and others will come behind, but I think we have to start from where we know in our society. Naila Foundation is another foundation of young people full of ideas that needs support.
“We need a society where no one is left behind. There are many ways we can address this, and we have heard of the knowledge which is there, and once there is knowledge to empower you, it can prevent a lot of what is happening today amongst our women.”
Speaking earlier, a clinical Psychologist Chinyereugo Udensi of Neem Foundation said “There is a need for psychological support, mental health support, when people go through loss they experience different reactions and sometimes this reactions we may not be able to channel it properly, and we don’t understand how to manage it.”
The Foundation in partnership with Neem Foundation and supported by McArthur Foundation also unveiled a 3-year plan to include 1 one 1 therapy sessions, create platforms for information and statistics on pregnancy and infant loss; distribute information and care packages to communities, and also launch legal assistance team on negligence cases in hospitals.
