- Other than the factors discussed in the lecture, what do you think are other factors affecting maternal mortality rate in the Philippines?
Aside from those mentioned in the lecture (i.e., antenatal care, delivery care and postpartum care), the following are some other factors which affect maternal mortality rate in our country:
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Poor management of preexisting medical conditions
According to Knight, et. al. (2016), many pregnancy complications arise from a mother’s preexisting medical conditions (e.g., mental health problems, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, HIV/AIDS). This is why it is ideal for reproductive aged women to already have preconception care interventions in place. However, in reality, especially among the marginalized, they may not have the resources to even manage those preexisting conditions, (e.g., no money for maintenance medications, check-ups for diagnoses). These would then exacerbate the risk of complications should they get pregnant, and therefore, affect maternal mortality rate.
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Religious beliefs
Certain religions may instill a sense of “guilt” into mothers who seek certain maternal and reproductive practices because of social stigma regarding sex and reproduction in general. Aside from this, some religions also promote early marriage, non-use of contraceptives, stigmatizing of abortion, and low or non-use of hospital care (Munyaradzi Kenneth, et. al, 2016). This then leads to delays in recognizing risk factors and delays in receiving appropriate health care.
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What are the top 3 causes of maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines? Top 3 maternal morbidity?
According to Epidemiology Bureau, Department of Health (2019), eclampsia was the leading cause of maternal death in 2019 (16%), followed by gestational hypertension with significant proteinuria (14.7%), and “other maternal diseases classifiable elsewhere but complicating pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium” (10.5%) as the third. On the other hand, the top 3 causes of maternal morbidity are hemorrhage (31%), infection (19%), and unsafe abortion (16%).
REFERENCES
Baccay, K.B. (2022). Prenatal Care and Safe Motherhood Lecture Video PART I. VLE. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SXIWQpPevbtDjGVAOOlWiDtyE9CqJskQ/view
CDC. (2020). Reproductive Health - Pregnancy Complications. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-complications.html
Epidemiology Bureau, Department of Health. (2019). The 2019 Philippine Health Statistics. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/publications/2019PHS_Final_092121.pdf
Knight, M., Acosta, C., Brocklehurst, P., Cheshire, A., Fitzpatrick, K., Hinton, L., ... & Shah, A. (2016). Beyond maternal death: improving the quality of maternal care through national studies of ‘near-miss’ maternal morbidity. Programme Grants for Applied Research, 4(9), 1-180. https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/death-in-childbirth-is-rare-but-women-with-pre-existing-health-problems-are-at-greater-risk/
Munyaradzi Kenneth, D., Marvellous, M., Stanzia, M., & Memory, D. M. (2016). Praying until death: apostolicism, delays and maternal mortality in Zimbabwe. PLoS One, 11(8), e0160170. • https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160170