Other than the factors discussed in the lecture, what do you think are other factors affecting maternal mortality rate in the Philippines?
Aside from the factors discussed in the lecture, other factors such as socioeconomic status, limited educational opportunities, and cultural beliefs contribute to the maternal mortality rate in the Philippines.
- Socioeconomic Status- According to Rau (nd), poor women and families residing in the rural areas do not receive adequate maternity care. While 60% of the births in the Philippines are supervised by skilled birthing attendants, others rely on traditional birth attendants to help them through their pregnancy. Poverty also disabled other women’s access to proper birthing places and proper nutrition, leading to birth complications. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has also indirectly contributed to the maternal mortality rate in the Philippines, especially to the poor, as it inhibited safe and easy access to health facilities (UNFPA, 2020). Now that most of the country’s healthcare facilities are performing necessary responses against the COVID-19 pandemic, this overwhelming event led to diminished attention and resources for women’s health and declining antenatal checkups mainly because of the fear of contracting the virus.
- Limited Educational Opportunities- Catholicism of most Filipinos may also indirectly affect the maternal mortality rate in the Philippines. Since only natural family planning methods are approved by the Church, contraceptive use such as condoms and birth control pills are considered illegal and immoral (UNFPA, 2009). As a result, contraceptives are very limited and access to these resources are not usually available in health clinics. In addition to this, most of the schools in the country do not implement sex education in their curriculum which leads to teenagers being uninformed about safe sex which may lead to unwanted pregnancy and may contribute to unsafe and illegal abortion.
- Cultural Beliefs- In some parts of the Philippines, especially in Muslim regions, it is shown that there are women under the age of 18 are usually arranged to be married to strengthen family bonds. Many of these adolescents are exposed too early to pregnancy and most mothers between the age of 15 and 19 are twice as likely to die of pregnancy complications than those women between the ages 20 and 24 (UNFPA, 2019). The main factor contributing to this problem is the underdeveloped sex organs of the adolescents, leading to less capability to undergo a safe and healthy pregnancy.
What are the top 3 causes of maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines? Top 3 maternal morbidity?
According to the Department of Health (2019), the top 3 causes of maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines include eclampsia which was the leading cause of maternal death at 16%, gestational hypertension with significant proteinuria at 14.3%, and other maternal diseases complicating pregnancies, childbirth, and the puerperium at 10.5%. On the other hand, the top 3 maternal morbidity causes in the Philippines are hemorrhage (31%), infection (19%), and unsafe abortion (19%).
References:
Department of Health, Albornoz, R., De Guzman, A., Roque, V., Sinson, F., & Rebanal, L. (2019). The 2019 Philippine Health Statistics. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/publications/2019PHS_Final_092121.pdf
Futures Group. (n.d.). Maternal and Neonatal Program Effort Index. POLICY Project. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/MNPI/Philippines_MNPI.pdf
The Borgen Project. (2020, July 16). Maternal Mortality in the Philippines. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://borgenproject.org/maternal-mortality-philippines/
UNFPA. (2009, April 7). Philippines: Maternal Mortality Rates Not Making Sufficient Progress to Meet MDGs. United Nations Population Fund. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://www.unfpa.org/news/philippines-maternal-mortality-rates-not-making-sufficient-progress-meet-mdgs
UNFPA. (2019, October 13). Empowering Maranao girls against child marriage - Philippines. ReliefWeb. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/empowering-maranao-girls-against-child-marriage
UNFPA. (2020, August 17). Significant rise in maternal deaths and unintended pregnancies feared because of COVID-19, UNFPA and UPPI study shows - Philippines. ReliefWeb. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/significant-rise-maternal-deaths-and-unintended-pregnancies-feared-because-covid