- 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 Department of Health is implementing its National Safe Motherhood Program that aims to give importance to the welfare and health of pregnant women. It provides access to quality healthcare through offering different services like: maternity care and newborn care benefits. It also aims to train medical professionals like basic emergency obstetric and newborn care for doctors, nurses, and midwives. Through this, mothers will be more aware about their health since they will be able to access healthcare with no worries about shouldering the entire fee and that they will know how they can take care of themselves and of their baby better through maternal education by the physician and nurse. Moreover, this program improves the knowledge of many healthcare professionals for them to be able to care for the mothers and their children better in order to promote their health and prevent complications during their pregnancy. With this, maternal morbidity and mortality can be lessened.
This program has 2 components:
- Local delivery of the maternal-newborn service package
- This will establish capacities to provide maternal services with the help of barangay health workers and teams composed of doctors, nurses, and midwives.
- This will collaborate with centers for health development like the Blood Supply Network Health Promotion and Communication Services and PhilHealth.
- National capacity to sustain maternal-newborn services
- This will provide training to health care worker.
- This will monitor, evaluate, research, and disseminate information to mothers.
Another program in the country is the implementation DOH’s Program for Young Parents. Since the rate of teenage pregnancy in the country is high, this program provides support, education, and help to teenage parents so that they can take care of themselves during the pregnancy. This aims to reduce rapid repeat of pregnancy and birth to women below 19 years old, promote facility-based deliveries, promote breastfeeding, and increase contraceptive prevalence rates. With this program by the government, pregnant teenagers will be more educated about how their bodies will change, how they must take care of them and their baby, and how pregnancy is a crucial period that must be given focus to by both parents.
2. What can you suggest in order to decrease our maternal mortality and morbidity in the country? Give at least 3 suggestions.
- Educate the youth about sex and contraception.
Sex education plays a role in making the youth realize the importance of safe and protected sex. With many teenagers engaging in sexual activity, sex education will help in decreasing teenage pregnancy rates and provide the youth with the knowledge and consequences of pregnancy. Moreover, education about the importance of contraception is important to prevent unwanted pregnancies. With less rates of unwanted pregnancies, less mothers will resort to abortion, which will then lead to lower rates of death due to unsafe abortion. Also, with sexual education, teens will be more informed about the consequences and implications of pregnancies to their lives and to their developing bodies.
- Provide access to contraceptives.
Education about sex and contraceptives is not always enough because despite knowing its importance, people who cannot afford to purchase contraception resorts to unprotected sex instead. It is only helpful that the government find ways on how individuals can have access to affordable contraceptives to prevent and lessen the rates of unwanted pregnancies.
- Make quality healthcare more accessible.
Prenatal care is vital to the health of both the mother and the child. Women should have access to affordable and high quality healthcare facilities where medical professionals, physicians, and nurses can provide them with relevant information about their pregnancy, check their health status, and provide prescription about what supplements to be taken during pregnancy.
- Improve maternal care in facilities and hospitals.
It is helpful that the maternal care provided in health institutions and facilities be of high quality by the continuous trainings of healthcare workers so that they can provide their best care to mothers at all times. This will promote health and positive results during pregnancy.
References:
https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/basic-page/Program%20for%20Young%20Parents%20Implementing%20Guidelines.pdf
https://doh.gov.ph/national-safe-motherhood-program