BAGUIO CITY—Regional health authorities revealed that maternal deaths in the different parts of the region is on a downtrend over the past four years, indicative of the successful interventions put in place by concerned government agencies and local governments through the years.
Melanie June P. Caleño, nurse IV of the Women and Men Health Development Cluster of the Cordillera office of the Department of Health, said that in 2015, there were 15 maternal deaths recorded in the region compared to the 18 cases in 2014, 23 cases in 2013 and 25 cases in 2012.
Abra recorded the highest number of deaths last year with five, followed by Apayao and Benguet with three maternal deaths each, Kalinga with two cases and Baguio and Ifugao with one case each. There were no deaths in Mountain Province.
The DOH-CAR official cited there is a growing awareness among pregnant mothers in seeking the appropriate advice from health authorities near their villages and the importance of giving birth in medical facilities and birthing clinics that were established in the barangays, municipalities, cities and provinces nationwide.
Caleño said there were 194 birthing stations in hospitals, rural health units and barangay birthing stations which were established in the different parts of the region.
However, she admitted that there are still numerous areas in the region that do not have access to birthing stations. This is why they are encouraging mothers from remote communities to live near established birthing stations a week before their expected due date.
Moreover, she claimed 93 percent of pregnant mothers give birth in established birthing facilities in their respective places while only 7 percent of them are forced to give birth at home because of the remoteness of their residence.
The DOH-CAR official expressed confidence that there will be a continuous drop in the number of maternal deaths in the region in the coming years because of the infusion of huge investments by the government and its private partners to build more birthing stations.
