Unicef calls DOH’s attention on high maternal death rate

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has called on the Department of Health to find out why about one woman in the Philippines dies every two hours due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. “We need to understand why despite the available health care services for them, many of our pregnant women choose to deliver without the proper care of skilled health workers," the agency’s country representative to the Philippines, Vanessa Tobin, said in a remark during Mother’s Day celebration at the SM Supermall in Manila earlier this week. Her remark was carried in a report posted on the Unicef’s website. The report also pointed to statistics showing that the lifetime risk of maternal death in the country is 1 in every 140. Around 11 Filipino mothers die everyday or an estimated 4,500 every year due to severe hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, sepsis and problems related to obstructed labor and abortion, the report said. Unicef further said the Philippines is among 68 countries which contribute to 97 per cent of maternal, neonatal and child health deaths worldwide. “About half of the deaths of Filipino children under five happen in the first 28 days of life," said the report. “A huge effort is needed to improve public reproductive and maternal health services and educate mothers, that is why Unicef seeks involvement through partnering with government and non-government actors, as well as other UN agencies in building capacities and upgrading facilities to serve pregnant women and newborn babies," Tobin said. The report also said women in the world’s least developed countries are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in developed countries. At the same time, a child born in a developing country is almost 14 times more likely to die during the first month of life than a child born in a developed one. “The health and survival of mothers and their newborns are linked, and many of the interventions that save new mothers’ lives also benefit their infants," Tobin was quoted saying in the report. In response to the Unicef’s call, the same report said, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has signed into force a department order, mandating all related government agencies to support the government’s “Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Care and Nutrition" (MNCHN) strategy. “The strategy aims to strengthen facility-based services for pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides local governments a guide to plan and implement services and governance interventions, and to strengthen public and private partnerships," it said. - Katrina Louise Francisco, GMANews