Safe Motherhood Week – Let’s Protect Our Favourite Females
Ermat. Mother. Mum. One thing that everyone in the world has in common is that they have a mother. They give birth, care for, and love us for our whole lives. There are almost 4 billion women in the world right now as you read this, making up approximately half of the global population.
43 million of these women are mothers.
In the Philippines, there are around 55 million women, but sadly, a high proportion of these women have limited access to basic health care and medical facilities.
Each year, the 2nd week in May is Safe Motherhood Week, which is dedicated to raising awareness about a woman’s health and nutritional needs during pregnancy. It is the vision of the Filipino government for Filipino women to have full access to the vital health services that can make their pregnancy and delivery safer.
The World Health Organisation reports that around 7 women die every day from pregnancy-related complications. Geographical limitations, caused by many families living in remote mountain or coastal regions which prevent them from physically accessing the maternal and post-partum health care required, and large differences in income levels, mean that the Philippines sadly has a higher Maternal Mortality Rate than many neighbouring countries. With limited access to health care, more than two-thirds of deaths occur during the post-partum period.
So what exactly is safe motherhood? It is said that there are four key pillars to safe motherhood:
- Access to effective family planning – ensuring that couples and individuals have the information needed to plan and space out their pregnancies
- Antenatal care – ensuring that pregnancy related complications are detected and resolved as soon as possible
- A clean and safe delivery – with trained birth assistants and access to clean facilities and equipment
- Essential obstetric care – available to all who need it.
Pregnancy is often a worrisome and uncertain time for many expectant mothers. First time mothers often do not know what to expect from labour, delivery, and the post-partum period, and non-first time mothers may have had a traumatic experience with previous pregnancies, deliveries, and post-partum.
EasyDNA Philippines is dedicated to providing expectant mothers with peace of mind surrounding their impending arrival, and has a suite of DNA tests that can give an insight as to the chance of their newborn developing a condition or disease.
One of our most popular tests is the Prenatal Peace test. The Prenatal Peace genetic screening test is non-invasive, requiring no amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. A standard blood draw is all that is required to undertake the DNA test, which screens for 18 genetic conditions. It should be mentioned that this does not replace a diagnostic test, but if you are in any way concerned that your unborn baby might have a genetic condition, then a screening test can provide much needed peace of mind.
Another popular test is the Newborn Genetic Test with NOVA. Nova is a newborn screening test that determines a baby’s risk for 50 inherited disorders, as well as providing personalised genetic information on the metabolism of 20 drugs. This test offers the most comprehensive and accurate newborn screening test, with over 99.99% accuracy.
EasyDNA Philippines is committed to providing the best pre and postnatal care to Filipino mothers, and coupled with the Safe Motherhood Week initiative, women can take comfort in the fact that there are many avenues out there that will help to ensure a safe, healthy and successful pregnancy, birth and postpartum journey.
