Making Pregnancy Safer

Making Pregnancy Safer

Making Pregnancy Safer

by Rhadrian Raphael Resuello -
Number of replies: 0

  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.

    Although the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations have good intentions, developing countries like the Philippines for example still have a long way to go before it achieves the MDGs. This is evident in terms of the maternal and newborn mortality rate which is far from decelerating in the country. As a response, one of the programs of the Department of Health (DOH) to combat this is the issuance of Administrative Order 2008-0029 “Implementing Health Reforms for Rapid Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality”. The policy provides the strategy for rapidly reducing maternal and neonatal deaths through the provision of a package of maternal, newborn, child health, and nutrition (MNCHN) services. 

    The goal of the program is to rapidly reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by focusing on the localities of the country through the effective population-wide provision and use of integrated MNCHN services. The strategy aims to achieve the following intermediate results:

    1. Every pregnancy is wanted, planned and supported;

    2. Every pregnancy is adequately managed throughout its course;

    3. Every delivery is facility-based and managed by skilled birth attendants/skilled health professionals; and

    4. Every mother and newborn pair secures proper post-partum and newborn care with smooth transitions to the women’s health care package for the mother and child survival package for the newborn.

    To achieve the effective implementation of the MNCHN strategy, the Manual of Operations (MOP) for the Rapid Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality aims to guide and support efforts at the level of the LGUs. This provides a set of instructions and standards to ensure that the MNCHN services are effectively carried out in the localities.

  2. What can you suggest in order to decrease our maternal mortality and morbidity in the country? Give at least 3 suggestions.

    1. Empower healthcare sectors and professionals by bringing back science to the people- There are a lot of misconceptions and hesitancy when it comes to seeking professional maternal care. This is because of various reasons such as past experience, culture, and lack of education. This can be addressed by bringing back science to the people for them to trust professionals and scientists who dedicated much of their time studying and working to care for pregnant mothers. Bringing back science to the people means teaching, educating, and visiting communities for information drives and annual checkups. We have to make sure that people will trust us and they must have positive experiences for the system to become sustainable. In this way, when women and families need medical help, they will be the ones themselves who will go to the local health centers and seek professional aid. 

    2. Make healthcare facilities and services more accessible- It is not enough that the people trust science and doctors. We must also make this process easier for them. As much as possible, we have to reduce the barriers that prohibit people from visiting healthcare facilities and services. This looks like building facilities in rural communities that still have little to no access to healthcare services. This also includes making transportation easier, cheaper to free healthcare services including medicines, supplements, and instruments that may be necessary for caring for pregnant women, and less bureaucracy that continuously oppresses and step on the rights of the minority.  

    3. Incentivize women and families to seek maternal health care and culture change- Aside from inherently convincing them and decreasing the barriers, it is also important to incentivize them just to give them a little more push to seek medical and maternal care. Incentive structures can include additional allowances and salary from work and free time or work break. Companies and employers cannot handle these alone, so the state should also step up and make sure that it provides the necessary resources and fund allocations to successfully carry out the policy. Culture change on the other hand means that we have to place less of the burden of pregnancy on women alone, but rather we also have to include men in the conversation and make sure that they become understanding and supportive partners. 

REFERENCE:

Department of Health. (2011). The MNCHN Manual of Operations 2011. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/publications/MNCHNMOPMay4withECJ.pdf.