Urges stronger Family Planning adoption
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate this year’s Safe Motherhood Day 2025 with the theme, “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures,” The Challenge Initiative (TCI) has decried the yearly loss of thousands of women to pregnancy-related complications, many of which it says are preventable through proper spacing and voluntary family planning.

The TCI, while calling for a revolution to safeguard the lives of mothers and children, said this could be achieved faster with improved access to Family Planning (FP) and childbirth spacing services across the country.

Country Team Lead, TCI Nigeria, Dr Taiwo Johnson, said that partnership with local councils and putting them in the driver’s seat had helped to scale reproductive health solutions.

She also said that in partnership with over a dozen state governments, they are making motherhood safer, families healthier and futures brighter.

“Safe motherhood starts before the first contraction. It begins with informed choices, timely access to family planning and a community that supports women at every step of their reproductive journey. What we are seeing in Nigeria today is a bold move from awareness to action, as well as from promises to programmes that truly save lives,” she said.

“Health facilities are experiencing increased client trust, local councils are mobilising resources to reach more communities and advocacy efforts are helping to reshape public perceptions, particularly through youth engagement, male involvement and outreach to underserved populations. Even in complex humanitarian settings, FP is being integrated with maternal health services, ensuring continuity of care,” she further stated.

Also, the Project Lead at Development Communications Network, Onche Odeh, said that TCI’s impact shows that when women have access to safe, affordable, and culturally appropriate FP services, among others, their well-being will improve.