UNFPA: 6 to 7 Filipino women died daily due to childbirth in 2021

Around six to seven Filipino women die during pregnancy and childbirth due to the unavailability, inaccessibility, unaffordability, or poor quality of sexual and reproductive health services in the Philippines, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Philippines.

In a press release, UNFPA Country Representative Dr. Leila Saiji Joudane said maternal deaths globally had increased during the past two years.

In the Philippines, she noted that, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 1,458 women died of maternal causes in 2019, which increased to 2,478 in 2021.

"That is around six to seven Filipino women dying daily due to childbirth. During emergencies, when access to maternal health services is disrupted, more women die during pregnancy and childbirth. Women die because sexual and reproductive health services are unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, or of poor quality," Joudane said.

Moreover, she said there were not enough trained healthcare workers that provide quality sexual and reproductive health information and services.

"For every 1,300 women and girls of reproductive age, there is only one public health midwife," she said, adding that in the Philippines, 14% of pregnant women do not get regular check-ups and the other necessary medical care needed during pregnancy.

"One in ten women do not give birth in health facilities or receive assistance from skilled healthcare personnel during childbirth," she added.

While complications in pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, eclampsia, pre-eclampsia, and hemorrhage were among the top 5 causes of maternal deaths, Joudane said these deaths were preventable if proper medical interventions and adequate healthcare systems, that were also resilient to emergencies, were accessible.

However, the high cost of health care makes it more inaccessible to poor Filipinos.

"According to the 2021 National Health Expenditure Survey, Filipinos in rural areas pay more for health care services and medicines compared to those living in urban areas and those with better income," she said.

Joudane stressed that these could all be addressed by making the world more gender-equal since gender inequality's role was the root of many other social issues.

"Gender inequality is what keeps women out of the workforce and schools, vulnerable to conflict and violence, and denies them the right to make decisions about their own bodies and health. And it's what makes pregnancy a dangerous endeavor, one which hundreds of thousands of women do not survive," she said.

With this, she mentioned that the UNFPA supported the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Philippines' commitment to achieving universal health coverage and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reducing preventable maternal death to zero.

Joudane thus called for gender equality and providing adequate reproductive health care, especially to women giving birth in celebration of Mother's Day.

"This Mother's Day, let us uphold the right of all people — especially mothers — to reach the highest possible standard of health. Timely health care for pregnant women can make the difference between life and death. No woman should die giving life," Joudane added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News