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Other than the factors discussed in the lecture, what do you think are other factors affecting maternal mortality rate in the Philippines?
In the lecture, it has been mentioned that a significant portion (35%) of Asian women does not receive antenatal care because of the inaccessibility of maternal health services in Asian countries. To contextualize this in this country, another factor affecting maternal mortality rate in the Philippines is the lack of fund allocation in the health sector which causes such inaccessibility of the health services to support the pregnant women. To support this, the budget for the health sector in 2021 is Php 210.2 Billion which ranks 4th and is lower than DPWH’s Php 695.7Billion, which suggests that building structures is more prioritized than securing the health and safety of the Filipino in the height of the pandemic. This is not to claim that I am an expert in economics or national budgeting but I would like to point out that the national budget for the health sector should be at least higher considering the situation.
Culturally, aside from the lack of decision power of women, Filipinos do not generally exhibit early health seeking behavior since most of our countrymen have the impression that seeking health professionals will burn a lot of money. As a result, pregnant women, especially those living in far-flung areas, do not consult medical professionals throughout their pregnancy period. A worse scenario is that even though something bad happens during their pregnancy, a significant number of them do not have the resources to seek help from professionals which ultimately contributes to the country’s maternal mortality rate.
As such, educating couples, especially pregnant women, about the critical importance of seeking and receiving antenatal care to ensure safe pregnancy is vital in reducing our maternal mortality rate. More importantly, the government should do its best in making the (maternal) health services more accessible to many which play a critical role in achieving the goal of reducing our maternal mortality rate in the country.
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What are the top 3 causes of maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines? Top 3 maternal morbidity?
Based on the lecture, the top 3 causes of maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines are (1) Complications related to pregnancy such as cardiac problems and/or infection which cause 38% of maternal mortality, (2) Hypertension which causes 35% of maternal mortality, and (3) Hemorrhage which is the cause of 17% of maternal deaths. Aside from these 3, it is also important to mention that unsafe abortion also causes a significant portion of maternal mortality in the country at 9%.
On the other hand, the top 3 causes of maternal morbidity are (1) Hemorrhage at 31%, (2) Infection at 19% and (3) Unsafe abortion at 16%. With these numbers, it can be deduced that the maternal mortality and morbidity are caused by shared factors. More specifically, we have to take a good look at Unsafe abortion which puts the lives of many pregnant women at risk. At the moment, abortion is illegal in this country which leaves some with no choice but to resort to illegal abortion clinics. As such, we should at least do our best efforts to reduce the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies by making family planning and contraception more accessible as well as by making this country a safer place to not get raped. Of course, aside from stricter security enforcements, teaching men how to respect women is really essential since reducing unwanted pregnancies will mean that there would be lower abortion attempts.
References:
2021 NATIONAL BUDGET; Reset, Rebound, and Recover: Investing for Resiliency and Sustainability. (2022). Department of Budget and Management. Retrieved from: https://www.dbm.gov.ph/images/pdffiles/201229-2021-Budget-at-a-Glance.pdf