"By maintaining the health and nutrition of pregnant mothers, we can prevent the birth of stunted babies," she observed in her statement issued here on Thursday.
Stunting can have several impacts that can affect children's intelligence.
According to Dharmayanti, women have an essential role in creating a smart generation. In order to create a smart generation, the main thing is that pregnant women must have healthy bodies.
"Intelligence is inherited from the mother, this has been revealed in research. When a mother is expecting to give birth to smart children, the mother must be prepared to be healthy," she said.
According to her, a mother who has sufficient nutrition from pregnancy to delivery will affect the quality of the birth.
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In addition, she highlighted the importance of maintaining the mental health of pregnant women as support from family members would help them in giving birth to a smart and healthy child.
"Mothers who are physically and mentally healthy will give birth to an intelligent generation. To this end, it is necessary to create a harmonious environment for mothers who are pregnant," she remarked.
Earlier, the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) had said that in Indonesia, mothers' health is still a matter of concern and something that everyone should be aware of.
"Mothers are the main driving force in the family that play a major role in determining the quality of children and the next generation of a family," the deputy for family planning and reproductive health at BKKBN, Eni Gustina, noted.
The concern comes from the fact that 76 percent of maternal deaths occur in the labor and postpartum phases, with 24 percent of them occurring during pregnancy, 36 percent during childbirth, and 40 percent during the postpartum period. Based on the 2018 Sampling Registration System (SRS) data, over 62 percent of maternal and infant deaths occur in hospitals.
Related news: Ministry aims to reduce maternal deaths by 2024
Related news: Ministry accelerates efforts to reduce stunting
Translator: Martha Herlinawati, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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