If family planning services can be realized, the maternal mortality rate will automatically decline significantly. Do not underestimate it.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Family Planning program and services at integrated health posts (posyandus) are the main gateway to controlling maternal mortality in Indonesia, the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) has said.

The posyandu transformation conducted by the Health Ministry can prove beneficial not just for the health of children, but also mothers in the future, the agency’s family planning and reproductive health deputy, Eni Gustina, said here on Wednesday.

Through the ministry's effort, posyandus can be utilized once again as the main location for expanding family planning services for the public, she explained.

In the past, posyandus served as a comfortable location for mothers to get fitted with contraceptive devices and obtain medicines, she informed.

The devices included implants, IUDs (intrauterine devices), injections, pills, and condoms. Their installation was meant to help mothers space pregnancies two years apart.

The interval was meant to serve as a "resting phase" for mothers during which they could take care of their newborns as best as they could while also recovering their health.

Further, the first two years of children’s lives are a critical period for nutritional fulfillment.

"If family planning services can be realized, the maternal mortality rate will automatically decline significantly. Do not underestimate it," she said.

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According to the Intercensus Population Survey (Supas), in 2015, the maternal mortality rate reached 305 deaths per 100 thousand births, Gustina informed.

Therefore, mothers' health must be handled so that Indonesia has an investment in the form of irreplaceable human resources.

This is important, especially since family planning services are among the indicators of reduced stunting and infant mortality rate.

The agency has provided free contraceptives to health facilities that have been integrated with it. All types of contraceptives of the best quality have been made available and they are also comfortable for mothers to wear.

However, there is still an installation cost for long-term contraceptives. An implant or IUD installation costs Rp100 thousand, Gustina informed.

She said she expects that people's awareness about utilizing contraceptives will improve. Wearing contraceptives is not about reducing the number of children, but improving the quality of life for mothers and children by maintaining reproductive health.

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Translator: Hreeloita D S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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