The health ministry’s aim to achieve a hundred per cent institutional delivery within the 12th five-year plan is hampered by the barriers like a long distance to health facilities, cultural beliefs favouring home delivery and also the attitude of health workers. According to the health minister, the new policy of ‘Accelerating Mother and Child Health Outcome- 1,000 Days Plus’ will enable the ministry to break the barriers.
The policy encourages institutional delivery through incentives to improve maternal health outcomes. It ensures financial benefits to pregnant women in rural areas and those in corporate and private sectors who do not get six months of paid maternity leave.
Each of them would receive an allowance of Nu 39,000 from the day the child is conceived until the child is two years old. It would be disbursed in portions during the period. However, they have to complete the recommended eight ante-natal care and four post-natal care visits, institutional delivery and exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
The ministry plans to implement this incentive also know as the maternity allowance within this year.
Other than the policy, the health ministry is also working to strengthen awareness programmes on the importance and benefits of child delivery at hospitals and compassionate care training for the health workers.
“We hope that with accelerating mother and child policy, we should be able to improve the accessibility issue. We are also advocating how important it is for you to deliver in the hospitals because this is where your baby and the mother will get the highest level of care. We are also trying to improve the attitude of the health workers through mediation and compassionate care. So these are some of the programmes we have currently to improve institutional delivery,” said Health Minister Dechen Wangmo.
Currently, Bhutan’s institutional delivery rate is over 95 per cent. Among the hospitals, the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu recorded the highest number of institutional delivery. Last year alone, the hospital attended to some five thousand delivery cases.
Choni Dema
Edited by Sonam
