Answer the following and post your answers here. Cite references of your answers as much as possible.
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.
- National Safe Motherhood Program
This program was developed by the Department of Health to ensure that all Filipino women have full access to health services to make gestation, labor, and childbirth be safer for both the mother and baby. With the program being guided by the Department of Health FOURmula One Plus thrust and the Universal Health Care Frame, it aims to provide rational and responsive policy direction to local governemnt partners to deliver quality maternal and newborn health services to Filipino women with integrity and accountability using scientifically-proven and innovative approaches. The program’s main points include (a) collaborating with LGUs to provide sustainable, cost-effective health services to disadvantaged women through safe and accessible health facilities and (b) establishing a core knowledge base and support systems for quality health services for pregnant women. Its main components are (1) the local delivery of the Maternal-Newborn Service Package to support LGUs in establishing and mobilizing the service delivery network of public and private providers and (2) the national capacity to sustain maternal-newborn services.
This program targets the maternal mortality and morbidity problem of the country as it aims to fulfill its goals and objectives by 2030. By addressing contributing factors to MMR, such as (a) mothers pursuing unsafe abortions due to unplanned pregnancies caused by adolescent pregnancies and poor access to family planning contraceptives of Filipino women, (2) lack of skilled healthcare workers, and (3) limited access to prenatal and postpartum care, the MMR of the country could be reduced, which is the program’s priority agenda.
REFERENCE:
Department of Health [DOH]. (2018, October 17). National Safe Motherhood Program. https://doh.gov.ph/national-safe-motherhood-program.
2. What can you suggest in order to decrease our maternal mortality and morbidity in the country? Give at least 3 suggestions
- Providing basic training and health education to traditional birth attendants and family members of pregnant women, especially in rural areas. Women in rural areas live far distances from quality obstetric care, which makes them seek prenatal and postpartum care from traditional birth attendants or hilots, or even from their family members who, like hilots, do not have formal training, thus lack in knowledge, skills, and clinical experience with regards to pregnancy and the possible complications it may occur with, as compared to the competence doctors, nurses, and midwives have in this area. Therefore, it is important to train traditional birth attendants and family members of pregnant women in basic proper prenatal and postpartum care, and what to do and who to refer to in emergency situations wherein complications, such as hemorrhage, during labor and delivery arise (Sibley et al., 2012).
- Ensuring access to prompt postpartum care and counseling. It is important to detect and immediately manage problems that may occur after labor and delivery, such as postpartum hemorrhage, which is one of the main causes of maternal mortality and morbidity in the country. Postpartum care and counseling must be affordable and easily accessible to all Filipino women to ensure the proper care and health of the mother and newborn (The Policy Circle, n.d.).
- Providing health education on safe sex, pregnancy (gestation, labor, delivery, and postpartum care), and contraceptive use to Filipino women and their families, and counseling regarding proper family planning. Informing disadvantaged Filipino women including their partners and family members helps them make informed choices and be aware of the different government services and programs that empower pregnant Filipino women and assist them in their prenatal and postpartum needs. Furthermore, health education must focus on informing women on the necessary dietary and lifestyle modifications they need in order to ensure safe pregnancy and delivery of the baby and correcting any pregnancy myths and misconceptions that may confuse pregnant women and their family members which may affect their plan of care to the mother during pregnancy. On the other hand, counseling should include information on safe sex and proper use of contraceptives, to reduce transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases and enhance family planning and pregnancy spacing to prevent unintended pregnancies that may result in unsafe abortions
REFERENCE:
Sibley, L. M., Sipe, T. A., & Barry, D. (2012). Traditional birth attendant training for improving health behaviours and pregnancy outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd005460.pub3.
The Policy Circle (n.d.). Maternal and Neonatal Program Effort Index (MNPI): Philippines. Policy Project. http://www.policyproject.com/policycircle/content.cfm?a0=2f.