In Indonesia, mothers’ health conditions were still a matter of concern, and everyone should be aware of it, according to the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN).

“This requires attention, as mothers are the main driving force in the family that play a major role in determining the quality of children and the next generation of a family,” deputy for family planning and reproductive health at BKKBN Eni Gustina noted on Thursday.

Gustina remarked that the commemoration of national Mother’s Day must impel everyone to foster awareness of mother’s health, both physical and mental, as well as appreciate her role in the family, both for her husband and children, as well as in the social environment.

The concern comes from the fact that 76 percent of maternal deaths occur in the labor and postpartum phases, with 24 percent of it occurring during pregnancy, 36 percent during childbirth, and 40 percent during the postpartum period. Based on the 2018 Sampling Registration System (SRS) data, over 62 percent of maternal and infant deaths occurred in hospitals.

Although this percentage shows that the public access to referral medical service facilities is quite good, maternal death is caused by several risk factors that are perilous for the mother.

For instance, starting from the pre-pregnancy phase, several mothers suffer from anemia during their childbearing age. Other conditions that occur are chronic energy deficiency (CED), lack of calories, obesity, or tuberculosis (TB) due to incorrect lifestyles and an environment that does not fit the criteria of healthy living, as well as the lack of information on healthy lifestyles in some places.

Moreover, during pregnancy, they also experience various complications, such as hypertension, bleeding, anemia, diabetes, infection, and heart disease.

Moreover, mothers experience unplanned pregnancy from either no contraceptives, coercion, or being a victim of abuse and also experience domestic violence at home.

In some places, like Papua, limited access to information on reproductive health due to restrictive customs and culture was also an issue that the agency paid attention by pursuing outreach via the Family Assistance Team (TPK), so that husbands can be well informed, and thus, it was expected that mothers can make decisions about their own reproductive health.

The mortality rate also increased when Indonesia was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. She cited data from the Directorate of Family Health that as of September 14 2021, as many as 1,086 mothers died with positive PCR or antigen swab test results.

Meanwhile, from the Data and Information Center’s data, as many as 302 babies died with positive swab or PCR results.

“There is a tendency that during the current COVID-19 pandemic, there has also been an increase in the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR). In response to this problem, the National Population and Family Planning Agency and relevant stakeholders will continue to coordinate to improve health system services in order to reduce the MMR, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gustina concluded.

Source: Antara News