No maternal healthcare facility in 512 unions

The United Nations (UN) study on maternal health suggests the high mortality rates are caused by the fact that nine out of every 10 deliveries take place at home with the assistance of mostly unskilled attendants or relatives. The study found that women’s low status in society, poor quality of maternity care services, lack of trained providers, low uptake of services by women and infrastructure all contribute to the high rate of maternal deaths. A by strong cultural and traditional ties also deter women from delivering at health centres. State Minister of Health and Family Planning Zahid Malaque was addressing this issue yesterday at a seminar called ‘Midwifery Service Framework’ arranged by Directorate of Nursing council and UNFPA, saying that they will increase the number of midwifery students to 35,000 by next year. Another contributing factor to this is the inaccessibility of healthcare in rural Bangladesh where a recent government health assessment on Primary Health Care found that 512 unions had no healthcare facilities from Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) or Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP). The minister hoped to extend the healthcare services to expectant mothers saying: “We are working on providing health care to women specially those who live in remote areas, hilly areas, slums and to the ultra poor.” DGHS Director General prof Abul Kalam Azad suggested with a higher number of midwives they would be able establish a ‘Common Service Centre’ at every union where healthcare assistants and midwives would be deployed. Deputy Director PHC of DGHS Pabitra Kumar Sikder, said among 63% of  deliveries were at home while 37% were at medical centres. Among the 37%, 22% were conducted at private hospital, 13% at government hospital and 2% at NGOs. United Nations’ Population Fund (UNFPA) Country representative to Bangladesh, Argentina Piccin Metavel urged to establish a strong midwifery services and regular evaluation and monitoring by the concern authorities.