A mother attends to her newborn baby boy at the birthing facility in Barangay Upo, Maitum, Sarangani. The baby was born at 6:05 p.m. on 1 September 2022. MindaNews file photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 12 March) – The Department of Health (DOH)-Region 12 (Soccsksargen) has rolled out an innovative electronic tracking system, the first in the country, to ensure proper management of high risk pregnancy cases and prevent maternal and neonatal deaths in the region.
Dubbed High Risk Pregnancy Referral and Reporting System, the initiative mainly aims to track all pregnant mothers within the region and facilitate the provision of quality maternal care through a convergence of services.
Dr. Melva Magana, DOH-12 maternal program medical supervisor, said they have started the tracking and enlistment of pregnant mothers into the system in coordination with barangay-based health workers and rural health units.
She said the system will help them identify and properly assess the status of the pregnant mothers, and set early interventions to those considered with high risk pregnancies.
The early detection and management of high risk pregnancies could help further lower, if not totally eliminate, cases of maternal and child deaths in the region, she said.
Region 12 is currently among the regions in the country with the lowest cases of maternal and child mortality, which has a target ceiling of 70 cases per 100,000 population.
The region only recorded 34 cases in 2022 and 27 in 2023.
Region 12 comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong and Kidapawan.
“Our goal is to achieve zero (maternal and neonatal) mortality…we don’t want any mother to die. We don’t want any family to be motherless,” Magana said in a press conference on Monday.
High risk pregnancies are those bearing child for the first time and pregnant teenagers aged 19 years old and below, pregnant women aged 35 years old and above, those pregnant for the fifth time and above, and those diagnosed or with family history of illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
Lea Grace Yonting, DOH-12 safe motherhood program manager, said it came out in their maternal mortality review that most of the recorded deaths in the region involved those with high-risk pregnancies.
But she said these cases were also preventable if only detected early and properly managed or referred to medical facilities.
Among the factors that caused maternal deaths were the lack of quality prenatal checkup, home birthing, and delayed or late referral of high risk cases, especially those from far-flung or geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
Pregnant mothers are encouraged to undergo four prenatal checkups before delivery and undergo postnatal care.
Magana said pertinent data of the pregnant mothers would be encoded into the system at the first contact with the health worker.
She said this includes recording their weight, blood pressure, laboratory test results and other relevant information.
The system, which was conceptualized by former DOH-12 assistant regional director and currently DOH-10 director Dr. Sulipicio Henry Legaspi, will analyze the data and create records that could be referred to doctors and medical facilities if necessary.
“The system is linked to our provincial hospitals and medical centers. The concerned hospitals will be notified by the system if there are referred or incoming patients,” she said.
Magana added that the system is also connected with the One Hospital Command Centers for faster referral of cases needing immediate attention. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
