House nurses: Health care workers to visit pregnant women

New and expecting mothers can now look forward to quality health care and check-ups from the comfort of their own home as part of the post-natal home care programme launched by the Ministry of Health.

The programme which was officially launched at the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital Seminar Room yesterday, is expected to improve the treatment and quality of care offered to both mothers and babies.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh yesterday praised the doctors and nurses for their participation in the launch and challenged all health workers to do their best in reducing the number of infant fatalities and maternal deaths by the year 2020.

Speaking at a news conference reviewing the programme’s effectiveness at the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital Seminar room, Deyalsingh said he was thoroughly impressed with the success of the programme and said while he was satisfied with a significant reduction in maternal deaths, he said more could be done to reduce the figure even further.

“There are so many causes of maternal deaths and we want to ensure that we avoid it as far as humanly possible and we have brought that level down in the past two and a half years considerably but we want to get it down even further and my challenge to the Regional Health Authorities is that by the time I leave office in 2020, our rate of maternal deaths should be matching that of first world countries.” He said crucial to reducing infant and maternal deaths involves thorough tracking of mothers before, during and after delivery and said conditions as simple as high blood pressure have contributed to deaths of expecting mothers in the past. Citing the success of the Cuban health care system, Deyalsingh also urged doctors and nurses to engage in a more community-based approach to health care by making home visits and taking the time to interact with their patients when possible.

The programme offered new and expecting mothers health care home check-ups on both themselves and their babies, which are especially effective in situations where the mother may be unable to visit a health centre of hospital to receive treatment.

Mother, Roxanne Applewhaite shared her experience with the programme and said she was satisfied with the level of care received and commended the nurses for their commitment and assistance from the comfort of her home.

“I did not expect this level of care and it was a very beneficial experience to me because just after my delivery I suffered from high blood pressure and my baby had problems breastfeeding and latching on, but the nurses gave me the necessary advice and I’m happy it worked out.”