“Delivery at the facility is very important as
well as delivery attended by skilled birth attendants, rather than delivering
at home which is handled only by a ‘hilot’, Blancia said.
“Giving birth at home is extremely discouraged,”
Dr. Blancia pointed out.
Dr. Blancia said , under the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG), the Philippines is targeting that by 2015 maternal
mortality be reduced to at least 52 per 100,000 live births or maternal
mortality.
The 2011 statistics show there are about 162 per
100,000 women who died due to pregnancy and child birth, Blancia informed.
To attain this goal, trainings on Basic Maternal
Obstetric and Neo-Natal Care (BMONC), were provided to BMONC teams of all the
Municipal Health Office (MHO) of the 26 municipalities of Zamboanga del Sur,
Blancia reported.
“A BMONC team is composed of a doctor, a midwife
and a nurse who are capable of handling normal deliveries in their respective
areas of assignment,” Blancia explained.
Meanwhile, the lady doctor disclosed that maternal
deaths in the province has decreased. “In 2010, the ratio of maternal death was
recorded at 146 per 100,000 live births while for 2011 it decreases to 90 over
100,000,” Blancia was quoted as saying.
“Let us take care of our mothers and newborns in
order to save lives, so that by 2015 we will be able to achieve our MDG goal on
maternal death,” Blancia emphasized. (JPA/CAL/PIA9)