Participants of a meeting on Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Maternal Neonatal Health (MNH) has called for holding seminars and workshops to create awareness regarding MMR and MNH in Health Facilitation Centres (HFCs) to promote soft image of rural women for prevention of mother mortality ratio during child birth.
The health care service providers gave these suggestions during the third Community Advocacy Dialogue Forum meeting with slogan "Saving Mothers in Communities" held here at Executive District Officer (EDO) health organised by Khendo Kor. The large number of health care providers, particularly relating to female health participated in the meeting while EDO health, Dr Abdur Rasheed Khattak, Dr Shaida Hussain, Nazra Syed, Bilqees and Waliur Rahman of Khendo kor and health department representatives spoke in the meeting. The objective behind the holding of the meeting was to discuss the challenges in services delivery in communities and to develop advocacy messages for prevention of Post-Partum Hemorrhage (PPH) (Severe bleeding during delivery).
They lamented that almost 80 per cent deliveries taken place at homes in the rural areas by unskilled childbirth attendants, which often result in the deaths of mothers and infants. They said despite being educated families, they do not prefer to refer their women to a hospital for proper delivery. Nazra Syed said Pakistan was among those states which had highest MMR in South Asia and the actual figures are much alarming than officials figures. She maintained majority of maternal deaths are caused by MMR (Severe bleeding during childbirth), which she added is preventable.
The participants stressed that all stakeholders, communities, government, non-government organisations should take the issue seriously and focus on addressing complications caused by PPH and they added all deliveries must be occurred by trained birth attendants and in safe place.
She added that these types of complications could be preventable and high number of lives could be saved by just adopting simple means such as WHO recommended medicine Misoprostol, which is cheaper than other inject able medicines and easy to use as well. EDO health on the occasion said they should focus on addressing complications caused by the PPH in order to reduce MMR and emphasised on health care providers particularly Lady Health Visitors (LHVs) to create awareness among the women to protect motherhood.