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| Bayer Philippines, Health Future Foundation Inc., and representatives from the local government of Tuy at the community launch event of Mama & Baby Care at Tuy, Batangas. In photo (L-R back row): Incoming ABC President Hon. Kap. Ramil Sanchez, Tuy BHW President Nancy Delfinado, Tuy RHU – Public Health Nurse Alma Capricho, and Current ABC President Hon. Kap. Adrian Perez) (L-R front row: Tuy MHO Dra. Pilar, Bayer PH Communications Manager Nadira Abubakar, HFI Chair Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, MD MPH, and Executive Assistant Domingo Condicion to represent Batangas Mayor Randy Afable). (Image Source: Manila Standard/Bayer Philippines Inc.) |
Bayer Philippines Inc. has partnered with the local government unit (LGU) of Tuy, Batangas in training 100 barangay healthcare workers (BHW) on maternity and infant care as it supports the Philippine government’s family planning and women’s health program. Bayer noted that a study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) revealed that the pandemic disrupted family planning and maternal and newborn health services globally and in the Philippines. This further strained already stretched out government healthcare workers.
As such, Bayer is championing women’s health and safety with the recent launch of the “Mama & Baby Care: The First 1,000 Days” project, an initiative that seeks to formally train at least 100 BHWs with the fundamental modules needed for maternity and infant care. Mama & Baby Care project was launched with the presence of partner organization Health Futures Foundation Inc. (HFI) Chair Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, Tuy Municipal Health Officer Dr. Pilar Adrias MD, Tuy BHW President Nancy C. Delfinado, and Tuy Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Adrian Perez. Bayer Philippines Managing Director Angel-Michael Evangelista remarks, “Bayer is committed to helping barangay health workers care for mothers and newborn children through the ‘Mama & Baby Care’ project through training on maternity and infant care that focuses on the first 1,000 days from the baby’s conception. We support ‘health for all, hunger for none,’ and with this project, healthcare workers are equipped with the knowledge to support both mother and child during that critical stage of development and help set the foundation for good health early on in life.”
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| Barangay Health Workers at Brgy. San Jose, Tuy, Batangas receive training for the “Mama & Baby Care project of Bayer Philippines and Health Futures Foundation Inc. (HFI). (Image Source: Manila Standard/Bayer Philippines Inc.) |
The training modules, developed by HFI, give prominence to practical information on properly and safely caring for pregnant women and their babies. From the formational pregnancy period when the fetus grows and develops inside the womb for 270 days until the infant’s first 730 days after birth, the program highlights the support and care health workers can give to the mother and child during this crucial stage. Mama & Baby Care also puts special emphasis on training healthcare workers in the local barangays to offer ready support for mothers closer to home, lessening the need for pregnant women to spend hours in transit just to make it to their regular check-ups in nearby cities. By empowering barangay health workers with training on maternal and infant care, local governments are able to provide access to safe motherhood in areas where such services are not available. “Working with Bayer Philippines, we wanted the program to fill in the need for maternal and infant healthcare in the local setting, hence the strategic move to focus on barangay health workers for the training,” shares HFI Chair Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan. “Currently, there are very few programs targeted specifically on the first 1,000 days from the baby’s conception, which our two teams saw as a crucial gap that needed to be addressed. Through this initiative, we hope to champion healthy infancy and toddlerhood by starting from the formative days of safe motherhood,” Tan added.
Tuy Municipal Health Officer Dr. Pilar Adrias, MD also comments, “The ‘Mama & Baby Care’ training program is an important step towards finally providing women and their children with localized care during such demanding times in their lives. Pregnancy and the early stages of motherhood are no doubt challenging, but with an efficient and capable support system around them, notably within their barangay, we hope to at least lighten the burden and ease the load of new mothers across the Philippines.” Even before the start and onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines saw about 2,600 women dying every year due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth. The maternal mortality cases in 2020 can increase to up to 670 additional deaths from the 2019 level (a 26% increase).
