Birthing practices improve

3 MIN READ

By CRISTINE MAE C. TALANAY*

In our community exposure, we were assigned to Soysoyan, Gusaran, Kabayan, Benguet. It is a nice place where there is no air pollution, no gang wars; a perfect place for unwinding. It is a simple community composed mostly of hardworking farmers and gardeners.

There are only 42 households in Sitio Soysoyan. Despite its being a far-flung area, I observed that it still maintains its being a health-conscious community. Residents are practicing healthy habits. Their garbage is segregated, their water regularly tested for potability, and those who are hypertensive always go to their barangay health workers for blood pressure monitoring.

Their barangay Health Clinic is far from Sitio Soysoyan. It is almost an hour hike. It also takes a resident four to five hours to reach the nearest hospital in cases of emergency and consultations.

Soysoyan barangay health workers are actively performing their duties despite very meager pay. They work hand in hand with the midwives in rendering health related services. There are two active barangay health workers and one midwife at Soysoyan.

These barangay health workers were trained in 1992 when Ruth Thelma Tingda, now dean of the College of Nursing of Easter College, was the municipal nurse of Kabayan. They were trained under the municipal health office with the Tingda’s help. Their equipment were provided by the Municipal Health Office.

According to my local sources, before the training of barangay health workers and the presence of midwives, the community practiced the traditional system of giving birth. Part of this system is the use of bamboo cutting the umbilical cord of a newly born baby. They would sometimes deliver the baby without assessing for the presence of antenatal [prior to giving birth] bleeding or even with the presence of it as it would take time for them to reach the nearest hospital.

The far location of hospitals would push them to take the risk of home delivery despite possible complications that may occur. Traditional birth attendants would also hold the baby upside down and pat the baby’s buttocks to elicit crying. Septic technique that uses sterilized equipment was not observed during those times.

After birth attendants were trained, the system of giving birth in Soysoyan was given many opportunities for improvement. Each barangay health worker has her own delivery set for attending baby birth. This set is composed of two clamps, scissors, suction bulb, and cord tie. They are taught to sterilize their equipment before using these.

They were also trained to assess mothers for antenatal complications before they would assist a mother giving birth. If there is noted antenatal bleeding, they would refer them to the hospital for safer delivery. Home deliveries would push through if there is no complication prior to the delivery.

They do not practice holding the baby with head down because of the risk of asphyxiation (difficulty breathing) and increasing the pressure in the baby’s head area. Patting of the baby’s buttocks to elicit crying is not recommended to avoid bruises. Instead the heel of the feet is more advised.

Up to the present, almost all mothers in the community give birth at home with the assistance of a midwife and/or a barangay health worker. My main respondent, Elizabeth Quino, a barangay health worker of Soysoyan, had assisted almost 32 mothers in home deliveries. She never encountered a mother with antenatal bleeding. In all her assistance, there were no complications during and after the deliveries of the babies.

Now in her 40s, Quino had been serving her community as a health worker for almost 15 years. Most of the babies whom she assisted are now entering high school. In fact, she assisted her daughter when she gave birth to her first grand daughter.

Quino claimed that Soysoyan health workers were given new or upgraded sets of equipment to improve the efficacy of their service. In any way, she said that what is important is that they are helping improve the community despite the technology that they have.

She is very happy seeing the children grow. They may be far from hospitals but they were able to assist in the safe deliveries of these children. Through commitment, she said that health workers showed self-reliance in promoting and maintaining good health. Presently, she is motivating people to undergo training. She is already getting older and there is a need for younger birth attendants to continue their service. #

* Cristine Mae C. Talanay recently finished Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the Easter College, Baguio City.