- 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 has this ‘National Safe Motherhood Program’ which is committed in contributing to the national goal of improving women’s health and well-being. They plan to achieve that objective through collaborating with Local Government Units to develop a sustainable, cost-effective approach to delivering health services that ensures disadvantaged women have access to acceptable and high-quality maternal and newborn health services and allows them to give birth safely in health facilities close to their homes. And also by developing a core knowledge foundation and support structures that enable the country to provide high-quality maternal and neonatal health care.
- What can you suggest in order to decrease our maternal mortality and morbidity in the country? Give at least 3 suggestions.
- Professionals in the healthcare field must be educated, trained, and upskilled on a regular basis in order to give up-to-date and high-quality services. The rate of maternal mortality is greatly lowered when healthcare staff are equipped to deal with maternal emergencies and are able to notice warning indications early on.
- Guaranteeing everyone has access to free, high-quality healthcare. Building health clinics in the community, particularly in remote and physically isolated locations, would aid in the accessibility of these services. In order to assure the quality of care provided, these local health centers must be adequately equipped with the appropriate resources and people. Removing health barriers would have a favorable impact on the mother's and child's health.
- Women, mothers, and families should receive health education on pregnancy, family planning, and contraceptive use. This would entail informing marginalized Filipino families about current maternal and newborn health care services that could help or meet their needs during pregnancy. Health education on the fetus' essential development phases throughout pregnancy, the necessary dietary and lifestyle modifications and improvements, the avoidance of toxicant exposures, the consumption of appropriate supplements, and debunking pregnant misconceptions should all be addressed. Family planning and contraceptive use should also be encouraged to avoid unwanted and unplanned pregnancies that could lead to unsafe abortions.
References:
Department of Health. (2012) National Safe Motherhood Program. Doh.gov.ph. https://doh.gov.ph/national-safe-motherhood-program
Paredes, K. P. P. (2016). Inequality in the use of maternal and child health services in the Philippines: do pro-poor health policies result in more equitable use of services? International Journal for Equity in Health, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-016-0473-y
Rau, A. (2015, June 18). Maternal Mortality in the Philippines The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/maternal-mortality-philippines/