Sociology

In Asia and the Pacific, thousands of women suffer from complications directly associated with pregnancy and childbirth. According to Maine (1993), around 75 percent of womens death is caused by such childbearing complications such as bleeding, infection, unsafe abortion as well as hypertension accompanied by severe convulsions.

Based on the World Health Organization data in the year 2000, out of the 529,000 estimated deaths due to lack of proper maternal care, 253,000 of those death cases are from Asia. Majority of the women who risk and even lost their lives during the process of childbirth are usually coming from the poorest of the poor who were not well-educated and were not empowered to fight for their own rights to survival and proper healthcare.

Because maternal mortality is highly unacceptable, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals make it a point that the issue on deaths caused by mothers giving birth must be given a priority. One of the important action points that the United Nations emphasized is the meeting of womens contraceptive needs. The United Nations (2008) emphasized this point stating that
Meeting unmet needs for contraception alone would reduce up to a third of maternal deaths globally. Having fewer pregnancies and spacing births increases the survival rate of both women and their children. However, achieving the Goal 5 target of universal access to reproductive health remains a distant dream in many countries (www.un.orgmillenniumgoals).

Most couple desire to have and raise children the best they could. However, many couples especially in the developing countries are not equipped with enough knowledge, awareness and support they need in the maintenance of their healthy sexual and reproductive health. In the Philippines for instance, data from the National Statistics Office (2003) shows that more than half of pregnancies are either unintended, occur too soon or are having very close gaps. As a result, many women give birth to more children than what is planned or what they wanted and can care for.

Consequently, women who do not want more children resort to unsafe abortion. Abortion in the Philippines is illegal due to the fact that the Christian faith plays a major role in shaping their values and perspectives in life. The Catholic Church in the Philippines urges its followers not to support the governments effort in promoting contraceptive-related efforts and other related legislation. It has been apparent that the very strong conservative position of the Church has created fear, confusion and dilemma among the faithful followers. Government leaders on the other hand lack political will to enact laws related to contraceptive as they would be labeled as immoral by the church thereby losing their charisma to the general public.

But it is crucial for the Philippine government to promote full access to reproductive health so as to attain their commitments in the Millennium Development Goals. That is why the United Nations Development Program (2005) has repeatedly emphasized that
Reproductive health care which includes quality contraceptive support services enables women and couples to make responsible choices about pregnancy, enabling them to have healthy babies and provide ample care for their families. Full access to reproductive healthcare would help a lot in the Philippine governments effort in improving maternal health, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, improving educational attainment, reducing child mortality, and promoting womens empowerment and gender equality.

The World Health Organization (2000) reported that in the Philippines, for every 100,000 live births, an estimated 200 women die from pregnancy-related causes such as abortions or miscarriage, obstructed labor, infections, severe bleeding and other birthing complications. Aside from that, an estimated 52,000 babies died in 2008 before their first birthday due to lack of child-bearing aftercare services to both mother and child.

Given this situation, the use of contraceptive is highly valued so as to prevent unwanted or unintended pregnancies thereby preventing maternal and child mortality. Accurate, timely and complete knowledge on contraceptive use and pregnancy risk has to be advocated. The government should provide better if not full access to quality healthcare services for women and children while also encouraging an equal and respectful decision-making between women and men about family planning, birth spacing and other reproductive health related matters so that they can improve the ability of women to safe and healthy pregnancy. In this way, couples can plan their future well, raise healthy children and foster a family based on their planned family size and children pacing.

To advance womens reproductive health and rights, several strategies have to be employed. To help reduce if not eradicate cases of maternal and newborn mortality, a community health and development program must be developed in the community level. The community health and development program would include conducts of orientation on community health, maternal and newborn health care as well as family planning methods to both men and women. The government in particular must spearhead the advocacy on family planning and the use of more effective contraception through trainings and seminars for community health workers.

Also included in the community health and development program are trainings on the immediate treatment of maternal and childhood illnesses so as to support mothers and newborns in their critical situations. Seminars on Responsible Parenting as well as breastfeeding must also be conducted as part of the program.

On the areas of prevention, massive information drive have to be conducted in the grassroots level so that young people will also be aware and educated on the importance of reproductive health. Reproductive health lectures and capability-building must be encouraged.

For adolescents, age-appropriate reproductive health and sex education must be implemented in the schools and at the same time involve the youth in community and outreach programs. Gender and development must be part of their lessons and daily activities.

For maternal and child health related programs to be sustainable, the initiative must come from the community people itself. When projects and programs are community-driven, there is a high possibility that such programs and services will be sustained and institutionalized. It is imperative that community people be given the chance to participate as they are the ones more knowledgeable about their situation. Women in particular should play active role in the community programs so that their needs will be met. In doing so, women will be empowered will have equal access to opportunities and in equal footing in terms of decision making in the household.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goal is not an easy task. It takes time and effort on both the government and the local people. Nevertheless, investing on contraceptive use as one of the many ways in advancing womens health and rights may prove to be very effective in preventing maternal and newborn mortality.