1. In response to Making Pregnancy Safer, what are the current programs in the country to address maternal mortality and morbidity? Cite at least 1.
The maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines has been in a steady decline through the years. It went from 144 per 100,000 live births in 2010 down to 121 per 100,000 livebirths in 2017. With these numbers, we could at least say that the strategies to address maternal mortality and morbidity are in a way working, however, we still have a long way to go in achieving the global goal of maternal mortality ratio of less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
Currently, one of the programs being implemented in the country to address the aforementioned concern is the Manuals of Operations (MOPr) which was developed as a reference and a guide to achieve the main objective of the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act of 2018 which is to: “provide comprehensive, sustainable, multisectoral strategies and approaches to address health and nutrition problems of newborns, infants and young children, pregnant and lactating women, and adolescent females as well as multifactorial issues that negatively affect the development of newborns, infants, and young children.” In other words, through the Manuals of Operations, various government agencies are tasked to implement nutrition programs for the first 1,000 days of life which is a very critical period since it's the time where the baby’s brain, body, and immune system grows and develops significantly (Pregnancy Birth Baby, 2019). Furthermore, included in the MOPr is improving the capacity building of service providers in order to provide effective delivery of antenatal care, essential maternal and newborn care and lactation management.
Having said this, MOPr does not only offer antenatal care to pregnant women but also provides comprehensive postpartum care which is also a very important component to consider in addressing maternal mortality and morbidity.
2. What can you suggest in order to decrease our maternal mortality and morbidity in the country? Give at least 3 suggestions.
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Increasing fund allocation to the health sector.
Inaccessibility of health services has always been a concern in our country because of the lack of fund allocations in the health sector. Unlike other countries, our country may have less of a commitment in investing in the health sector which could backfire with our progress. As a result of this, pregnant women from hard-to-reach areas hardly receive any antenatal care which significantly puts their pregnancy at risk. As such, increasing fund allocation to the health sector will certainly increase the accessibility of the much-needed maternal health services which in turn can decrease the country’s maternal mortality and morbidity. Furthermore, with increased funding for the health sector, our future health professionals will be more motivated to stay in the country instead of going abroad, which will address our issues of Brain Drain and will provide a better quality of care to our Filipino pregnant clients.
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Reinforce programs to make family planning and use of contraceptives a norm and less of a taboo.
Family planning and use of contraceptives are still considered somewhat of a taboo in the country. Thus, our country has always had a high number of unwanted pregnancies. Considering the economic status of the majority of the Filipinos, seeking health care services may have been the least of their options, thus high-quality antenatal care is not often provided to most pregnant women. Furthermore, unwanted pregnancies also lead to illegal and unsafe abortions which is also one of the top causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. In connection, by normalizing family planning and use of contraceptives, we can lower the country’s number of unwanted pregnancy, which can also lower the occurrences of unsafe abortion and can ensure that high-quality of antenatal care can be provided to pregnant women with the idea that their pregnancy is planned and wanted.
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Make information related to pregnancy more accessible to public
Fake news and misinformation have always been a problem in our country. Pregnancy myths can put both the pregnant woman and her baby’s life at a significant risk. This is because some of such myths prevent them from consulting a professional as they believe that following the myths would suffice for them to have a successful pregnancy. To combat this, the government should make information about pregnancy more accessible. Pregnancy infomercials should be flashed on free TV so that pregnant women and aspiring mothers should gain some knowledge about safe pregnancy, especially if health teaching is hardly available to them.
Reference:
Manual of Operations first 1000 Days law RA 11148. (2011). Department of Health. Retrieved from: https://www.nnc.gov.ph/phocadownloadpap/userupload/Ro8-webpub/Manual%20of%20Operations%20first%201000%20Days%20law%20RA11148.pdf