Yamashita Tadashi, Suplido Sherri Ann, Ladines-Llave Cecilia, Tanaka Yuko, Senba Naomi, Matsuo Hiroya
Kobe City College of Nursing, Nursing, Kobe, Japan ; Department of International Health, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines.
PLoS One. 2014 Jan 20;9(1):e85627. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085627. eCollection 2014.
The maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines remains high; thus, it will be difficult to achieve the Millennium Development Goals 5 by 2015. Approximately two-thirds of all maternal deaths occur during the postpartum period. Therefore, we conducted the present study to examine the current state of postpartum health care service utilization in the Philippines, and identify challenges to accessing postpartum care.
A questionnaire and knowledge test were distributed to postpartum women in the Philippines. The questionnaire collected demographical characteristics and information about their utilization of health care services during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The knowledge test consisted of 11 questions regarding 6 topics related to possible physical and mental symptoms after delivery. Sixty-four questionnaires and knowledge tests were analyzed.
The mean time of first postpartum health care visit was 5.1 ± 5.2 days after delivery. Postpartum utilization of health care services was significantly correlated with delivery location (P<0.01). Women who delivered at home had a lower rate of postpartum health care service utilization than women who delivered at medical facilities. The majority of participants scored low on the knowledge test.
We found inadequate postpartum health care service utilization, especially for women who delivered at home. Our results also suggest that postpartum women lack knowledge about postpartum health concerns. In the Philippines, Barangay health workers may play a role in educating postpartum women regarding health care service utilization to improve their knowledge of possible concerns and their overall utilization of health care services.
菲律宾的孕产妇死亡率仍然很高；因此，要在2015年实现千年发展目标5将很困难。所有孕产妇死亡中约三分之二发生在产后时期。因此，我们开展了本研究，以调查菲律宾产后保健服务利用的现状，并确定获得产后护理的挑战。
向菲律宾的产后妇女发放问卷和知识测试。问卷收集了人口统计学特征以及她们在孕期和产后时期利用保健服务的信息。知识测试由11个关于与分娩后可能出现的身心症状相关的6个主题的问题组成。对64份问卷和知识测试进行了分析。
产后首次保健就诊的平均时间为分娩后5.1±5.2天。产后保健服务的利用与分娩地点显著相关（P<0.01）。在家分娩的妇女产后保健服务利用率低于在医疗机构分娩的妇女。大多数参与者在知识测试中得分较低。
我们发现产后保健服务利用不足，尤其是在家分娩的妇女。我们的结果还表明，产后妇女缺乏关于产后健康问题的知识。在菲律宾， barangay保健工作者可能在教育产后妇女有关保健服务利用方面发挥作用，以提高她们对可能问题的认识以及她们对保健服务的总体利用率。
