Day 1

Opening

The training started at 9:59am with the opening prayer said by Dr Agboola Babajide, a participant. The moderator, Mr. Wale Obelewaji, the Senior Information Officer of the Ministry of Health and Human Services, recognised the State Nutrition Officer, Dr. Bolanle Olorunyomi. Thereafter, the participants did self-introductions, stating their names, status and the place of primary assignment. Dr. Mrs. Kikelomo Adejuwon, one of the facilitators, who was also a nutritionist and the Deputy Director in Ondo State Primary HealthCare Development Agency, put forward the enactment and promulgation of ground rules that will guide the conduct of the proceedings.

The following ground rules were promulgated and adopted:(1)putting phone on silent, (2) prohibited of noise making and side talk (3) prohibited of chorus answers (4) prohibited of movement during the training (5) prohibited of lateness. The house unanimously agreed that violators of the rules should pay two hundred naira as penalty. Dr. Adejuwon nominated two participants, Dr. Mrs. Omotoso and Mrs. Daramola Mary, as coordinators of the activities of the day by ensuring the participants comply with the ground rules, set the recommendation for the training and also be the timekeepers.

Training Overview

Dr. Kehinde Adeniyi, the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the AIRiN project, talked about the overview of MIYCN. He opined that the expected outcomes after the exhaustion of the training should be improved skills and capacity. He asserted that the MIYCN is an updated edition over 2012 edition and the overall objective of this updated edition is to equip health workers with the knowledge and skills to provide quality nutrition services for optimal feeding of women, adolescent girls, infants and young children at the facility and community level.

Opening Ceremony

Shortly after the overview, the Director-General of the Ekiti State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (EKSPHCDA), Dr. Gilbert Ayodele Seluwa, came in to declare the training opened, and to deliver the keynotes address of the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Oyebanji Filani. Dr Kehinde Adeniyi brought greetings from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and charged participants to listen and digest everything that is going to be taught during this training, and to resonate the same during the step-down training at LGA. Pretest was observed using hard copy for those participants that were unable to log in to the MIYCN portal.

Goodwill Messages

The Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in person of Barrister Akinluyi Olusola charged participants to imbibe everything that is going to be taught and resonate the same to health workers at health facilities. The Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Health and Human Services, Mrs. Olusola Gbenga-Igotun stressed the need for health workers to change the perception of the public on the misconception they have on nutrition so as to maximise health outcomes.

Introduction to Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN)

The topic was delivered by Dr. Mrs. Funmi Olusa, retired former Oyo State Nutrition Officer and the Lead Facilitator for Ekiti State MIYCN training. She said that the objective of the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition training is to equip the participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to improve the nutritional status of mothers, infants, young children, adolescents and women in exceptionally difficult circumstances. She concluded by saying that the advocacy in respect of MIYCN is of three types:

Early initiation;
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continuation into the second year of life; and,
Introduction of appropriate complementary feeding at six months of age.

Counselling Skills

Mrs. Alapo Funmilola, Chief Nursing Officer and Nutritionist in Kogi State Ministry of Health facilitated this session. She defined counselling as a way of working with people, in which you try to understand how they feel and help them to decide on what they think is best to do in their situation. She said adolescent girls, pregnant adolescents, mothers and caregivers who are feeding children are to be counselled on appropriate nutrition. According to her, counselling skills include: