The Pampanga Provincial Health Office (PHO) recently held its first Clinical Case Conference for Midwives at the Benigno Aquino Jr. Memorial Hall inside the capitol compound in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
Fe Ocampo, midwife IV of the PHO, disclosed that this first case conference for the year had midwives from both public and private hospitals and clinics as participants to involve both sectors in efforts to improve maternal and infant mortality statistics in the province.
Dr. Marilu Malamug of the Department of Health (DOH) in Region III revealed that these statistics “need to be lowered if we are to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015”.
“That is why efforts are being strengthened to improve the MCH status and one of the steps taken was the weekly reporting by midwives of the relevant statistics to their respective provincial and regional offices.
According to Malamug, six deaths were reported for the period January to July, 2011 and these happened in Candaba (one), Porac (one), at Jose B. Lingad (JBL) Regional Memorial Hospital (three) and at the Pampanga Medical Specialists, a private hospital in Guagua (one).
In her report, Malamug identified the leading causes of mortality among mothers and infants. On maternal mortality, causes include eclampsia, embolism, acute pneumonia and placenta retention. On infant mortality, causes include respiratory diseases and congenital anomalies.
A case presentation was made by Amethyst Castro regarding a mother who died after giving birth to her baby due to uterine atony.
Two obstetrician-gynecologists gave their reactions and comments regarding the case. They were Drs. Ma. Cecilia Tecson of the Candaba Lying-in Clinic and Sherryl Yu of the JBL Hospital.
Both doctors emphasized the importance for attending midwives to be on the alert for symptoms of potential risks during childbirth. In the case presented of the woman who died in transit to the hospital, her precipitate labor and the baby coming out within 30 minutes from her initial labor pains were signs that something was wrong with the woman’s condition.
Midwives need to be adequately trained for similar situations in order to avoid complications, even deaths, relative to childbirth, the two doctors emphasized.
Relative to this need, the DOH which encourages home-based deliveries also stresses the continuing training of midwives to help them cope more than adequately in the running of birthing stations that are being established in municipalities and barangays.
In the open forum that ensued during the seminar, the issues raised by the participants include the delay in health-seeking behavior and consultation, delay in management, delay in referral, need to update skills of attendants and need of proper assessment, guidelines to follow by practitioners, and standards for regulation of birthing stations.
Malamug presented a synthesis of recommendations to the group which include the following: stronger public and private sector partnership, regular updates on MCH, active membership in accredited associations, skills enhancement, facility-based delivery, professional birth attendants and proper regulation of birthing stations.
Dr. Antonio Aquino, head of the PHO and Dr. Benjamin Arboleda, head of the Mabalacat District Hospital, enjoined the participants to keep honing their skills especially since they are handling cases that involve a matter of life and, possibly death, for either the mother or the child. They also expressed the need for sustained coordination and stronger support between government and private health institutions towards improving the MCH statistics in the province. (Pampanga PIO)
