Of Bleeding, Pleading
Kalbay Barangay Kagawad Marilo Castro’s heart raced as she stepped forward, her palms slightly sweaty, to volunteer her story. Anxious yet determined, she began to share her experiences. "Actually, Mam, dili ni akuang anak. Ako na lang ni siyang gi-adopt kay namatay man ang iyang inahan sa panganganak niya." (Actually, she is not my child. I just adopted her because her mother died while giving birth to her.)
She was teary-eyed when she told me how in 2021, she witnessed a 17-year-old mother die while giving birth. The mother, then 17, was already in labor for three days before her family could bring her to the health center. They lived in the mountains and had no money. By then, physical exhaustion already consumed her and she started to bleed. She bled profusely. Panic seized Marilou who was then a Barangay Health Worker. She pleaded for a vehicle to transport the mother to the nearest hospital, but it took them four hours before they could jump off Kalbay to the nearest facility in uphill Brgy. Poblacion in Caburan, some 43 kilometers away. By then, the young mother was already bathing in blood, fighting for her child and her own dear life. But life left her frail body before they could reach the hospital. The vehicle returned with the baby's head still in her mother's puerta. Her body, already lifeless, could not push the baby out of her womb. Marilou did all she could and used what little she knew from the childbirths she witnessed to save the baby. Luckily, the baby survived.
From time to time, Marilou would still be haunted by the images that she saw -- the blood that sucked the life out of a young mother. She said that it would not have happened if medical care were immediately available; if there was a hospital nearby; if they did not have to lose time looking for a vehicle that could ferry them immediately; if they had doctors, and if they had money.
Hanna is now 3. Today, Marilou will take her to a hospital four hours away from where they live. She complains of stomachache and has been feverish. Such incidents still terrify Marilou. You only need to look her in the eye to see that it scares her like it did three years ago when Hanna almost lost her life, too. Marilou clings to the hope of not having to travel for hours to seek medical attention. How she wishes her pleading could stop the bleeding of people in her community whose lives are on the brink every time there is a medical situation or an emergency.
The young mother's case may just be one of many similar stories that were never told of pregnancy-related deaths in geographically isolated areas like Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental where medical care is hard to come by. It may seem absurd that these things still happen but stories like these are real at the grassroots. They will continue to be told if medical care remains elusive. Maternal mortality is still a challenge in the country. In 2020, there were a total of 1,975 registered maternal deaths. These deaths resulted in a maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 1.3 deaths per one thousand live births. To put it in perspective, this means approximately five maternal deaths occur daily. Notably, this MMR represents a significant 44.4 percent increase compared to the previous year. It is the highest MMR recorded since 1978. Maternal health is a critical area of concern, and efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates remain essential. (Department of Health, 2020).
Reference: Department of Health (2020). The 2020 Philippine health statistics. https://doh.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2020PHS_FINAL_PDF.pdf