“Safe moms” turn a decade old

“Safer Moms” initiative. it affected 11,700 mothers and children in in the province of Chiriquí and in the Ngäbe Buglé Comarca for a decade.

The program aims to influence the reduction maternal and infant mortality rates and increase skilled birth care in the Ngäbe Buglé region.

This was achieved by strengthening services and care which offers Maternity homes of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) pregnant women who live in hard-to-reach areas of the region.

According to data from Minsa 2021, the region is the area where maternal mortality rates are still the highest in the country.

Furthermore, given that more than 60% of death of mothers usually occur in the postpartum period, the program, in collaboration with Minsa and volunteers of Panama, provides 24-hour training for the promoters of the five maternity homes where the program operates, to strengthen their knowledge of prenatal care, the importance of professional birth care, postpartum care, warning signs and newborn care.

“Thanks to the program, we made a contribution greatly strengthen safe motherhood in the region,” he said Dolphin Rueda, coordinator of the mother and child program of the Ngäbe Bugle region in Minsa.

Mothers arrive in Maternity homes surpassing economic barriers and the geographic conditions they face to access health services; and leave with knowledge valuable for taking care of your baby and yourself in the months after giving birth, she added.

Data

In 2014 Ngäbe Buglé region makes up 40.9% of the total number of deaths mother earth. By 2021, this figure has already decreased to 21.4%.

“Safe Moms” is a joint initiative between United Way Panama, Volunteers from Panama and Procter & Gamble.

Safe Moms’ comprehensive approach starts with training promoters in maternity hospitals until the purchase of bags with products Procter & Gamble essentials.