With maternal and newborn deaths a continuing reality in Davao Region, the Department of Health Regional Office 11 is mobilizing community stakeholders to work together to scale up delivery of quality maternal and newborn health care in the barangays, especially those in geographically isolated areas.
Community mobilization entails the higher involvement of local government officials and other members of the community such as leaders of Indigenous Peoples, religious groups, transport sector, and local government agencies to collaborate with health workers in addressing the most pressing challenges related to maternal and neonatal health. The stronger engagement of local officials and other community leaders will make it easier to come up with quick and decisive solutions to problems in health care delivery that would otherwise be difficult to resolve at the level of midwives and nurses alone.
“Local officials have the political mandate to find resources that are otherwise beyond the means of health workers. Hence, their participation, as well as that of the other members of the community, is critical to addressing health challenges in their areas of responsibility,” said Mayor Michael Maruya of the municipality of Don Marcelino, Davao Occidental.
The strategy of mobilizing communities was implemented in Malita, Davao Occidental, after it registered 18 maternal deaths in the third quarter of 2015. The Department of Health Davao Regional Office (DOH RO XI), with technical assistance from WHO Sub National Initiative (SNI), organized stakeholders to work together to achieve desired maternal and neonatal health performance indicators such as antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, facility-based delivery, newborn initiated breastfeeding, among others. Community stakeholders were also informed on the benefits of maternal health and the available maternal and newborn services in health facilities. Heath information was shared during Bisita Buntis (Visit Pregnant Women), and pregnant women were encouraged to seek prenatal consultations and deliver in a health facility assisted by skilled birth attendants.
As a result of these actions, the number of pregnant women visiting health centers to avail of prenatal care significantly increased. Those nearing their term were also provided assistance such as transportation, food and accommodation in a maternity waiting home to ensure they will deliver safely at a nearby safe birthing facility. These joint efforts of local officials, health workers, and other community leaders for maternal and neonatal health have apparently contributed to reduction of maternal mortality in Malita, which registered only one maternal death by June 2016. The strategy of mobilizing communities spawned a sense of shared responsibility among community stakeholders, inspiring them to work together and take an integrated approach instead of a fragmented set of actions towards meeting MNH needs.
Community mobilization is being implemented through the Accelerating Convergence Efforts through Systems Strengthening for Maternal and Newborn Health or AcCESS for MNH, a collaborative project of DOH RO XI and WHO SNI with funding support from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The project aims to replicate the success of community mobilization in the other nine project sites in Davao Region by applying the lessons learnt in Malita. The strategy is hoped to contribute to the realization of the Davao regional health vision of “Walang Nanay at Sanggol ang Mamamatay dahil sa Panganganak” (No mother and newborn shall die from childbirth).