In response to Making Pregnancy Safer, what are the current programs in the country to address maternal mortality and morbidity? Cite at least 1.
In response to Making Pregnancy Safer, the Department of Health implemented the National Safe Motherhood Program in order to address maternal mortality and morbidity. In terms of improving the well-being and health of ALL Filipino women, particularly those who are disadvantaged, the program collaborates with local government units to provide full access to quality maternal and newborn health services and close healthcare facilities, allowing them to safely give birth in the hopes of getting positive pregnancy outcomes.
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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Empower healthcare providers through medical training.
It is important that healthcare providers continuously expand and update their knowledge and skills regarding maternal health in order to be able to quickly respond to maternal emergencies. The ability to recognize early warning signs and pre-existing risk factors of pregnancy complications can help healthcare providers to manage them as soon as possible and prevent them from worsening (Sparkman, 2020).
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Strengthen the effectiveness of antenatal care through patient education.
A low level of awareness of the danger signs of pregnancy is said to contribute to high maternal mortality ratios, and the key to achieving the proper performance of focused antenatal care is providing health education and counseling to pregnant mothers. Antenatal care provides an opportunity to discuss health behaviors, ways how to recognize complications and appropriate actions to take, information regarding postpartum care, newborn care, and breastfeeding with pregnant women. Aside from that, healthcare providers should be able to carry out an intensive and thorough assessment in order to recognize complications and to provide individualized antenatal care. It is also a must to emphasize the importance of antenatal care to pregnant women and encourage them to practice compliance (Al-Ateeq & Al-Rusaiess, 2015).
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Prioritize increased government funding to healthcare in order to address factors such as poverty, distance to facilities, inadequate and poor quality healthcare services.
The gap between the rich and the poor is apparent as seen with how different these people are able to access healthcare. Maternal health is largely dependent on one’s socioeconomic status. The government should allocate extra funds to maternal healthcare enough to address the need for healthcare centers with the necessary medical supplies, an increase in skilled people, infrastructure growth, and specific finance programs shouldering costs of transportation and health services for marginalized pregnant women and those in remote areas. Access to quality healthcare will indeed result in a reduction in maternal mortality (Dahab & Sakellariou, 2020).
References
Al-Ateeq, M., & Al-Rusaiess, A. (2015). Health education during antenatal care: the need for more. International Journal of Women’s Health, 239. https://doi.org/10.2147/ijwh.s75164
Dahab, R., & Sakellariou, D. (2020). Barriers to Accessing Maternal Care in Low Income Countries in Africa: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), 4292. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124292
Sparkman, L. (2020, December 14). Reducing Maternal Mortality: Steps To Improve Outcomes. Retrieved from Relias website: https://www.relias.com/blog/reducing-maternal-mortality