NR # 2688B
REF. NO.
NR # 2688B
REF. NO.
Ocampo said maternal care, which many women of reproductive age need, is an important measure of health access. The 2008 NDHS showed that while access to maternal care on the average is fair to good, this is not so for the greater number of women in our country, she said. Ocampo said poor women who seek prenatal care, the care of pregnant women to detect and manage early pregnancy complications, is lower than the rich and the care they receive is less in amount, in terms of iron supplements to prevent anemia as well as blood and urine exams, which identify medical conditions that could affect the pregnancy. Furthermore, Ocampo said despite the dangers associated with pregnancy complications, 87% of the poorest women deliver at home, mainly assisted by a hilot who is not capable of handling a birthing emergency. This is in stark contrast to advantaged women who give birth mainly in a health facility or hospital, assisted by a doctor. Marginalized women are also unable to avail of the standard life-saving operation for an obstructed delivery (when delivery of the baby requires an operation called Cesarean section). This means that poor women die because they do not have the means and cannot afford the necessary Cesarean operation, Ocampo emphasized. Ocampo said these problems included lack of money, lack of providers and drugs in a facility, distance to the facility and transport problems. In other studies, women have identified some health providers as insensitive to their impoverished condition and lack of knowledge. Because of the multiple roles that women, including poor women play in society mothers, wives, workers, teachers, community organizers, etc- womens well-being and empowerment are key, not just to their own development but to the development of societies. Women-headed households have been shown to have less number of children and produce children who are better-nourished, educated and healthy, Ocampo said. (30)
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