Stakeholders&rsquo; Take on Sharing the Tasks in Providing Family Planning Services &ndash; Inquiring into the Issues on Midwives&rsquo; Implant Insertion

Roberto  E. Javier Jr.,; Cristina  A. Rodriguez,; Marlon  D. Era,

Stakeholders’ Take on Sharing the Tasks in Providing Family Planning Services – Inquiring into the Issues on Midwives’ Implant Insertion

Roberto E. Javier Jr. | Marlon D.L Era | Cristina A. Rodriguez

Abstract:

In line with the issues surrounding maternal mortality, the promotion and protection of the rights of women to better access to high quality healthcare and midwifery programs during pregnancy and delivery have been the foci of recent global initiatives. Based on a report, the “State of World’s Midwifery 2011” the global community needs 350,000 skilled midwives o adequately addresses the needs for maternal and healthcare services (ten Hoope-Bender, Campbell, Fauveau, & Matthews, 2011). It noted too that two thirds of the cases of maternal and child mortality globally could be prevented through the implementation of high quality healthcare and midwifery programs. It pointed out that millions of lives could be saved annually by investing in the education and training of midwives. It added that educated midwives could perform 87% of all the services for maternal and newborn healthcare.

The World Health Organization (2012) also recognized the need to maximize the role of middle level health workers comprising nurses, midwives, and lay health workers to provide maternal and newborn care, including family planning (FP) services. In fact, the organization’s Optimizing Health Worker Roles for Maternal and Newborn Health Framework recommends that the midwives should be mobilized to insert and remove contraceptive implants. Similarly, a panel of experts participating in a two-year study that aims to update the core competencies described
by the International Confederation of Midwives in 2002 for basic midwifery practices has designated the insertion and removal of contraceptive implants as one of the skills that can be learned by midwives (Fullerton, Thompson, & Severino, 2011). While the contraceptive implant has been introduced in the Philippines 1985, its adoption is slow.(Contraceptive Research , Introduction and Use, 1998: p.109) It is also interesting to note that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Circular No. 038-2015,) has made the contraceptive implant available in the country
“to increase access to long-acting reversible family planning methods” (par. # 1 Circular No. 038-2015, December, 2015).