Dr. Olufunke Fasawe shared CHAI Nigeria’s experience supporting the Federal Ministry of Health in integrating postpartum family planning indicators into the national health management information system (HMIS) in Nigeria.
The program Dr. Fasawe is sharing was conducted between 2016-2019 in Katsina, Kano and Kaduna states in northwestern Nigeria. Home delivery rates were very high at the time in these states, on average 80% and up to 91% in Katsina. The objective of the project was to train healthcare workers to insert Immediate Postpartum (IPP) IUDs and implants and reaching women during antenatal care to retain them to deliver in the facility where they could have access to immediate PPFP care. The project also focused on Traditional Birth Attendants who typically accompany home births and are in a position to refer women to a facility within 48 hours to receive PPFP. The project purposefully used this opportunity to build on previous CHAI work to strengthen the referral transport system using motorbikes.
Over the three year period, the project achieved good results in terms of uptake of implants and insertions within 48 hours after delivery whether the woman delivered in a facility or at home.
The registers are usually reviewed and updated every three years and the timing was good when indicators were recommended. Together with key partners they successfully incorporated three indicators measuring IPPFP, ANC and counseling into FP, labor & delivery and ANC registers. Dr. Fasawe shared screen shots from the registers themselves and the DHIS2 indicators. These indicators are now routinely reported and the Federal Ministry of Health is still prioritizing capacity strengthening on reporting and improving data quality.