To encourage more women within its catchment area to patronise the services of the family planning unit, the Ada Health Centre has relocated its family planning unit to the Outpatients Department (OPD).

Ms. Rose Anagblah, a Physician Assistant, disclosing the said the relocation resulted in the centre recording a 36.0 percent family planning acceptable rate in the first half of 2023 compared to the 29.2 percent seen within the same period in 2022.

Ms. Anagblah revealed this when she gave a presentation on the activities of the centre during the Ada East District Half-Year Performance Review.

Initially, the location where we offer our family planning services was away from the main facility, so when someone is going there, you know they are going for family planning services,’ she said, adding that this deterred some of the women from accessing the service.

She said currently, because of the new location, family planning attendees could enter the OPD without anyone knowing what service they were going for, leading to the increase in percentage.

The facility, she noted, also had a total estimated protection by contraceptive methods of 346.

Touching on pregnancy, she said the proportion of mothers who made at least four ante-natal clinic visits also increased from 58.5 percent to 73.0 percent.

Ms. Anagblah said the increase was a result of the ANC outreach the facility was embarking on in the communities, as they have intensified their home visits.

She said that in line with one of their priorities to promote maternal and infant survival rates at the health facility, they have organised six maternal lessons that are done monthly to educate expectant mothers.

She said the proportion of deliveries attended by health care workers has also increased from 23.8 percent to 27.2 percent, stating that this could be attributed to their community activities.

‘For instance, in one of the CHPS compounds, even though we don’t have a midwife, we now move there, so they are seeing our presence in the community, and we are intensifying our education on the need for them to deliver at the facility,’ she said.

Source: Ghana News Agency