PESHAWAR, Oct 9:  Participants at a dialogue forum on Tuesday called for taking steps to ban childbirth at homes and providing health delivery facilities at grass root level to reduce maternal mortality rate (MMR).

The participants of the district dialogue forum titled ‘Saving the Mother in Community’ suggested that the government should frame laws banning deliveries at home.

However, they said the government should first ensure provision of health facilities at community level.

Health experts, including Dr Rasool Jan of MNCH, Dr Ameen, deputy provincial coordinator, Lady Health Workers Programme, Dr Shida Hussain, coordinator Lady Workers Programme, Dr Saeed-ur-Rahman, project coordinator of Khendo Kor on Saving the Mother in Community for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, and Maryam Bibi, chief executive of Khendor Kor, spoke on the occasion.

They said 80 per cent deliveries took place at homes that led to MMR while major causes of the mother death during delivery were Post-Partum Hemorrhage (PPH) (severe bleeding), infections, eclimpsia and pre-eclimpsia and direct and indirect causes.

They stressed the need for implementing and providing Emergency Maternal Obstetric Care (EMOC) and comprehensive EMOC in the country, especially in tribal region and KP province. They suggested that the goal could be achieved through public private partnership in the health delivery system.

They said in Pakistan MMR was 276 per 100,000 live births as compared to just 14 in Europe and the US.

Dr Saeed-ur-Rahman informed that the US and Europe were facing the same situation of MMR in 1915 but they reduced the MMR by 1933 by implementing provision of EMOC and comprehensive EMOC.

They emphasised on creating public awareness, community mobilisation and inter-sectoral collaboration to achieve the objectives of Millennium Development Goals.