Safe motherhood – This course is designed to understand the care of pregnant women and newborn: antenatal, intra-natal and postnatal; breast feeding, family planning, newborn care and ethical issues, The aim of the course is to acquire knowledge and develop competencies regarding midwifery, complicated labour and newborn care including family planning.
Safe motherhood
Definition of Safe Motherhood:
Safe motherhood encompasses a series of initiatives, practices, protocols and service delivery guidelines designed to ensure that women receive high-quality gynecological, family planning, 191 the prenatal, delivery and postpartum care, in order to to achieve optimal 1 health for the mother, fetus and infant during pregnancy, childbirth and childbirth and postpartum
Or
Safe motherhood means ensuring that all women receive the care they need to be safe and healthy throughout pregnancy and childbirth.
Or
Safe motherhood means a suitable environment to save the life of the mothers. That means-
➤ Woman will decide whether she will be pregnant or not.
➤ If she is pregnant she should get facilities related to pregnancy problem.
➤ She should get trained midwifery person during delivery.
➤Emergency obstetric care during need.
➤ Relevant care during puerperium.
Safe motherhood initiative:
The Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) is a call to the countries of the Region to redouble their efforts to meet the targets s of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio, and achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health. The Initiative also supports synergistic action to achieve MDG 3 (Promote gender equality), MDG 4 (Reduce child mortality), and targets of MDG 6 (Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV)
Or
In 2007, the Safe Motherhood Initiative is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Many countries have been able to improve the health and well-being of mothers, and newborns over the last 20 years. However, countries with the highest burdens of mortality and illness have made the least progress, and inequalities between countries are increasing. In many places, inequalities within countries are increasing too, between those who live in better conditions and have access to care, and those who for a variety of reasons are excluded
Elements of Safe Motherhood:
1. Antenatal care and education
2. Intranatal care
3. Post natal care of mother
4. Prevention of abortion
5. Management of complications of unsafe abortion
6. Competent referrals
Pillars of Safe Motherhood
The 4 pillars of safe motherhood according to WHO are as follows
1. Family planning
2. Antenatal care
3. Safe delivery
4. EOC services
A. Family Planning:
This pillar ensures that individuals and couples have the access to information and services spacing to plan the number, and timing of pregnancies.
B. Antenatal care:
This is very important pillar for safe motherhood. It helps to facilitate an uneventful and safe pregnancy period by preventing complications where possible as well as detecting complications
related to pregnancy early and treated accordingly.
C. Safe delivery:
The proper education of safe delivery will ensure that all birth attendant and midwives have the adequate knowledge’ appropriate skills and necessary equipment to conduct a safe and clean delivery. It also ensures proper post-partum care for both mother and baby.
D. Essential obstetric care (EOC):
The objective of EOC is to serve the services to the pregnant women at the time of her emergency need. This may be during pregnancy, delivery or in post-partum period.
Roles of a Midwife to Establish Safe Motherhood Initiative:
1. Help to promote basic maternal health services by taking active participation.
2. Provide quality antenatal care to the pregnant mother
3. Preparation for healthy family life.
4. Standard record keeping.
5. Care during pregnancy.
6. Identification of pregnant women
7. Identify high risk pregnancies and take immediate measures.
8. Provide primary care in hypertension in pregnancy and anemia in pregnancy
9. Antenatal mother’s monitoring and examination.
10. Abdominal palpation.
11. Provide domiciliary maternal health care, services
12. Identify the cases for admission in secondary and tertiary hospitals
13. Provide EOC
14. Management of prolonged second stage of labour with foetal distress.
15. Care after delivery.
16. Immediate care of the new born first 2 hours after delivery.
17. Care of mother and baby in the post-natal period.
18. Provide essential care during delivery and ensure safe delivery.
19. Life-saving management of bleeding in pregnancy and after delivery.
20. Life saving management of eclampsia.
21. Counsel people to adopt family planning.
Maternal condition in Bangladesh:
1. Maternal death: 320 per 100000 live birth.
2. About 11,000 to 12,000 women dying from pregnancy or childbirth complications every
year in Bangladesh.
3. The estimated life time risk of dying from pregnancy and childbirth related causes in
Bangladesh is 1 in 21 compared to 1 in over 4,000 in 6 industrialized countries.
4. High rates of maternal morbidity and mortality continue to be important challenges for Bangladesh health systems are three million mothers become pregnant each year.
5. Out of which 600,000 are expected to develop complications.
6. About nine million women suffer from lasting complications such as Fistula, Prolapse,
inability in controlling urination, or painful intercourse.
Importance of Safe Motherhood:
1. Every minute of every day take away another life of a mother.
2. Every year more than half a million women die from complications in pregnancy and
childbirth.
3. Over 300 million suffer from avoidable illness and disability.
4. Nearly all maternal deaths (99%) occur in the developing world
Read More….