By Gabriela Baron
A total of 2,478 Filipino women died due to childbirth in 2021, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Citing Philippine Statistics Authority data, UNFPA noted an increase in Filipina women dying due to childbirth, with 1,458 women dying in 2019.
“That is around 6 to 7 Filipino women dying daily due to childbirth,” UNFPA Country Representative to the Philippines Dr. Leila Saiji Joudane said.
“During emergencies, when access to maternal health services is disrupted, more women die during pregnancy and childbirth,” Joudane stressed.
Globally, every two minutes, a woman dies giving birth, UNFPA furthered.
UNFPA attributed this to the unavailability, inaccessibility, and unaffordability of sexual and reproductive health services.
“Human resources are also scarce. There are not enough trained health care workers that provide quality sexual and reproductive health information and services,” Joudane said.
She noted that for every 1,300 women and girls in reproductive age, there is only one public health midwife.
In the Philippines, 14% of pregnant women do not get regular check-ups and the other necessary medical care that they need during their pregnancy.
UNFPA also noted that one in 10 women “do not give birth in health facilities or receive assistance from skilled healthcare personnel during childbirth.”
Leading causes of childbirth death
UNFPA bared that the top causes of maternal death included complications in pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, eclampsia, pre-eclampsia, and hemorrhage.
“Many of these deaths are preventable if only there were accessible proper medical interventions and adequate healthcare systems that are also resilient to emergencies,” Joudane said.
“The high cost of health care makes it more inaccessible to poor Filipinos,” she added, citing the 2021 National Health Expenditure Survey that Filipinos in rural areas pay more for health care services and medicines compared to those living in urban areas and those with better income.
Joudane likewise stressed that preventable maternal mortality can be addressed by “making the world a more gender-equal place.”
“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 endeavour, one which hundreds of thousands of women do not survive,” she added.
UNFPA also expressed support for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the country’s commitment to achieving universal health coverage and universal access to sexual and reproductive health as well as reducing to zero preventable maternal death.
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