Preterm birth is responsible for 84 percent of deaths among newborn babies in Indonesia, director for family health at the Ministry of Health, Erna Mulati, has said.

“As many as 84 percent (of infant deaths) happened because of preterm birth. This is getting higher due to the number of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia cases that have been increasing from year to year,” she said at an event entitled ‘The launch of the USAID Momentum Partnership Program between Indonesia and the United States’, which was streamed live on the Health Ministry’s Youtube channel here on Thursday.

Fifty percent of infant mortality occurs in the first 28 days after birth, Mulati said. Meanwhile, 11.4 percent of deaths occur 7-27 days after birth, while 38.2 percent of deaths occur within 7 days of birth, she informed.

Based on 2019 Basic Health Research data, the high rate of infant mortality due to preterm birth was because 17 percent of pregnant women experienced chronic energy deficiency and almost 50 percent of pregnant women experienced anemia, Mulati said.

For that reason, improvements starting from the community health center level are needed to prevent the rise in infant mortality, she added.

Separately, chief of the National Demography and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), Hasto Wardoyo, said that women planning a pregnancy must undergo a health screening first to find out their nutritional status.

“Women should meet the requirements before getting pregnant. The BKKBN will not prohibit people from getting married because it is not under our authority. However, we want health screening to be conducted first before marriage to check the nutritional status,” he added.

Source: Antara News