Celebrating Motherhood in Nigeria

The town crier strikes his gong in the very early hours of Saturday at strategic points in the Oyigbo community in Rivers State, Nigeria, to invite pregnant women to a Mother Love Party later that day.

Chisom, a pregnant woman, jumps in excitement and immediately reaches out to her friends to spread the news.  

Within a few hours, pregnant women assemble at the community town hall, chatting with each other and waiting for the health talks to begin.  

“Seeing my fellow pregnant women gathered together makes me so happy,” says Chisom.  

For the Love of Mothers  

The Mother Love Party is a community-based strategy designed to improve pregnant women’s access to antenatal care services. It involves health talks focusing on HIV testing, creating awareness on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), the need for delivery at the health facilities, and immunization. 

In 2020, only 35% of an estimated 7.8 million pregnant women in Nigeria received antenatal care at the health facility that provided and reported PMTCT services, according to the Routine Nigeria PMTCT Programme Data, National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, and STIs Control Programme.  

“Most of our women do not receive antenatal care or delivery at the health facilities; hence we have low HIV testing coverage among pregnant women,” says Rebecca Nwagwu, the EGPAF-Nigeria PMTCT/EID technical officer.

After a welcome to the Mother Love Party, the group sang, danced, and listened to health talks on personal care, nutrition, antenatal care, and immunization. HIV education touched upon the importance of testing, initiating treatment for those who test HIV-positive, adhering to treatment, and understanding that being undetectable for HIV means that the virus is untransmittable (U=U).  

HIV counseling and testing was offered to all the pregnant women in attendance.   

“This is the first time I had my HIV test done, and I’m happy to [be able to] immediately receive my result,” says Chisom. “More of the Mother Love Party should be carried out for pregnant women to have access to HIV testing and other health talks we received today including prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.” 

Packed with Love  

“I felt good joining the Mother Love Party as we sang, danced, and talked about our health”, says Chisom. “I wasn’t expecting any pack but having received a delivery kit (mama pack) and seeing the items made me feel loved” she smiled.  

Mama Packs distributed to all pregnant women in attendance contain items required during delivery such as gloves, delivery mat, disposable umbilical cord clamp, and diapers. It is parcel to an initiative to provide basic needs during delivery to reduce the household’s financial burden and encourage them to visit the health facility for delivery.  

“I have been saved the cost and stress of going to the market to buy the items in the Mama Pack,” says Chinyere, another pregnant woman at the Mother Love Party. “I can now head to the antenatal clinic smiling and show them these items as mine.” 

“The Mother Love Party carried out in Oyigbo has improved facility-community collaboration and linkage; involving all relevant stakeholders and community gatekeepers, we have been able to sensitize the women and have their buy-in of the PMTCT program,” says Mrs. Dum-Igoni Agnes, PMTCT focal person, Rivers State AIDS and STIs Control Programme.