Mothers warned of post-natal health risks

A baby’s safe delivery is no guarantee that the mother is already out of danger.

The Department of Health issued this warning, citing complications such as infections and other health problems that mothers could experience after delivery.

And such problems, if left unattended, can be fatal, according to the Center for Family and Environmental Health (CFEH).

"It is important that women seek the help of health professionals to have their health status checked after delivery through post-natal checkups," said the CFEH in a statement.

The CFEH placed the incidence of pregnancy-related deaths at 10 daily, or a maternal mortality rate of 172 per 100,000 live births. To bring down this rate by 50 percent, the DOH has launched the Women’s Health and Safe Motherhood Project (WHSMP).

Through the WHSMP, the DOH has built and upgraded several health centers in prioritized areas of the country to provide quality maternal health care services, including post-natal checkups.

These facilities include barangay health stations (BHSs), rural health units, lying-in clinics (LICs), and maternity waiting homes (MWHs).

There are a total of 25 LICs and MWHs across the archipelago. These were built in selected places where the incidence of maternal deaths had been found relatively high because of geographic and economic reasons.

The MWHs were built in catchment areas considered hard to reach because of mountainous terrain, surrounding bodies of water, poor road network or typhoon-prone location. Nonetheless, the MWHs are located in the compounds of district or provincial hospitals.

On the other hand, the LICs are located near rural health units in areas with sizable population and large number of monthly deliveries.

At these facilities, women and their husbands can also attend health classes and read materials on maternal and baby care while getting instructions on breastfeeding and proper nutrition, including the needed immunizations, and responsible parenthood.