LAHORE: In Pakistan, every three minutes a mother dies while giving birth; it is all due to the absence of birth spacing.

USAID Health Development Officer Nora Madrigal said this at seminar ‘Institutionalization of the Birth Spacing Paradigm in Punjab’ on Thursday.

The seminar was organised by the Population Council, a non-government organization, under aegis of FALAH Project with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Other speakers urged the government, religious and political leaders and civil society representatives to promote best practices relating birth-spacing for improving maternal and child health in Punjab and other provinces of the country.

She said mothers died because of the absence of birth spacing. The USAID-funded FALAH project aims to improve maternal and child health by introducing innovative concept of ‘Birth Spacing Saves Lives’ and promoting the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies’.

Birth spacing refers to the time interval from one child’s birth date until the next child’s birth date. There are many factors to consider in determining what is an optimal time interval between pregnancies. However, researchers agree that 2 ½ years to 3 years between births is usually best for the well being of the mother and her children.

She said the FALAH, a five-year project worth $60 million, was to provide reproductive healthcare solutions and train healthcare providers.

She said as the maternal and child healthcare were the priority areas under in the project, USAID would launch and support such projects in Punjab.

Punjab Population Welfare Department Secretary Javed Akhtar said the provincial government was committed to promoting the best reproductive health practices on birth spacing and promoting mother and child healthcare from pregnancy to birth.

“The innovative approaches and methods regarding birth spacing introduced by USAID and its partner organisations will help control increasing population and save lives of both the mother and the child,” he said.

Chief Minister’s Adviser Begum Zakia Shahnawaz acknowledged the services of USAID and health organisations.

FALAH Project’s communication consultant Javaid Jabbar said the mass media could change outdated and traditional approaches and methods being adopted in birth spacing since decades.

He said as the early marriages of girls and pregnancies between the ages of 14 to 17 were much dangerous to both mother and child health, the media should highlight such issues positively in order to create awareness among the masses.

“The role of ulema is very much important to teach people about birth spacing in our country. They (clerics) should tell the people that Almighty Allah narrated in Quran regarding minimum mothers’ milk-feeding to babies for two years. This is a natural process that ultimately creates two years of birth space,” he said.

Earlier the FALAH project’s Chief of the Party Dr Ali gave a presentation to the participants regarding programme objectives and implementation.