Abia: How one woman ended Okuenyi mothers’ dangerous trek for childbirth

…Govt promises standard facility By Steve Oko UMUAHIA — For pregnant women in Okuenyi community, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, the journey to motherhood was often a painful test of endurance, one that began long before labour pains set in. With no functional health facility to attend to them, expectant mothers had to trek approximately three miles to neighbouring communities in search of antenatal care and safe delivery.

For some, the journey was a desperate race against time, with the lives of both mother and child hanging in the balance. But one woman who grew up in the community could no longer bear the sight of her people enduring such hardship. Moved by the plight of the women, Mrs Ebere Ulelu-Obiesie, an indigene of Okuenyi, stepped in to change the narrative, sponsoring the renovation and upgrading of the community’s dilapidated temporary health post and equipping it with essential medical facilities.

Her intervention, complemented by financial support from Rev. Friday Nnah, Proprietor of Abundant Living Christian School, Okuenyi, has brought renewed hope to a community whose women had for years faced the agonising prospect of travelling miles to access basic healthcare. For the women of Okuenyi, the renovated facility which was inaugurated recently, represents much more than refurbished walls and newly acquired medical equipment.

It offers the possibility of receiving medical attention closer to home and, perhaps, a safer journey into motherhood. Painful reality that inspired intervention Narrating the circumstances that prompted the intervention, Mrs. Ulelu-Obiesie told SEV that her attachment to Okuenyi, where she was born and raised before marriage, made it impossible for her to turn her back on the suffering of her people.

She disclosed that the decision to rehabilitate the health post was driven by her worry over the deplorable condition of the facility and the difficulties pregnant women in the area pass through to access healthcare. According to her, a visit to the health post with her husband, Mr Ernest Obiesie, exposed the gravity of the situation and strengthened her resolve to intervene.

“I was born in Okuenyi before I got married. I could not stand by and watch my people continue to face these difficult challenges, especially in accessing healthcare services. Pregnant women, in particular, were exposed to enormous difficulties. “After visiting the former health post in Okuenyi with my husband and seeing its deplorable condition, I resolved to liberate my people from these challenges by initiating the project through my husband, in collaboration with my co-sponsors,” she said.

Her husband, Ernest, revealed that he initially hesitated when she presented the proposal, citing financial constraints. However, seeing the condition of the health post during a subsequent visit changed his perspective, as the couple resolved to respond to the community’s urgent healthcare needs. Beneficiaries narrate ordeals One of the beneficiaries of the medical outreach, Mrs Nwablessing Nwankudu, offered a poignant account of the ordeal residents had endured before the intervention.

She said pregnant women and other residents were often compelled to trek approximately three miles to neighbouring communities to access medical services, including antenatal care and delivery. For expectant mothers, the distance was not merely an inconvenience. It was a potentially dangerous undertaking, particularly when labour commenced unexpectedly or complications arose.

Nwankudu expressed gratitude to the project sponsors, praying that God would continue to bless them for bringing relief to the community. She, however, appealed to the Abia State Government to upgrade the facility into a standard health centre and rehabilitate the community’s access roads to make healthcare delivery more accessible. Govt promises more intervention Representing Governor Otti at the commissioning, Director, Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Hon.

Ukaegbu Ndubuisi said the intervention had drawn the state government’s attention to the absence of a standard health centre in Okuenyi and the deplorable condition of roads linking the community. He assured the residents that their concerns would be conveyed to the governor for necessary action. “We assure the people of Okuenyi that this message will get to the Governor, and he will swing into action in the coming months to ensure that the upgraded temporary health post is transformed into a standard health centre, the inaccessible roads are graded, and the people of Okuenyi receive their democratic dividends,” he said.

The inauguration ceremony was accompanied by a free medical outreach led by Dr Obioma Nwaogwugwu, Supervisor for Health, Obingwa LGA, and other healthcare professionals. The outreach provided residents with access to medical consultations and other healthcare services, further extending the benefits of the intervention beyond the rehabilitation of the