DOHA: Officials from the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) will start visiting new mothers at home as part of its post-delivery services to ensure that newborn babies in Qatar and their mothers are in good health.
The visits were recommended in a recent study conducted by the Corporation on how to improve primary healthcare for mothers and their newborn babies, local Arabic daily Al Watan reported.
According to the study, there will be 27,476 births in Qatar by 2015, up from 20,000 births reported in 2010. Most of the births in Qatar take place in Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) or at Al Khor Hospital.
The Corporation is committed to supporting mothers before and after childbirth and this is part of its five-year strategic plan for 2013-2018. Studies have shown that maternity services are safe in Qatar and the chances of maternal death or other pregnancy-related deaths are 0.01 percent, which compares favourably with developed countries like the United States.
The Corporation will also focus on creating awareness about early detection of pregnancy as studies have found that most first time mothers in Qatar (about 51.9 percent) did not realise that they were pregnant until after about three months. Late detection prevents mothers from receiving health tips about diet and lifestyle changes that are useful in pregnancy. Late detection of pregnancy is also dangerous for mothers with gestational diabetes, and this is a common complication in most pregnant mothers in Qatar, according to the study.
The study also recommended that the corporation conduct several awareness programmes aimed at training new mothers in taking care of their newborn babies.
They are advising couples planning to have children to visit Primary Health Centers, where a nutrition clinic operates once or twice a month to provide consultation on dietary supplements that will help the healthy growth of the foetus and also the newborn baby. The health centres will also encourage mothers to breastfeed their newborn babies, something that is being neglected by some mothers. The study found that the breastfeeding rate is low in Qatar. The World Health Organisation recommends that children be breastfed for at least the first six months.
The health centres also follow up with mothers at home, especially those that have given birth by caesarean section, and remind them to visit the hospital every six weeks for routine medical tests. The health centres also reach out to mothers who gave natural birth to ascertain how they are coping with their new role as mothers and how they and their babies are doing. The mothers are at risk of getting diseases or psychological problems and need to be visited.
The study also recommended a set of prenatal education classes for pregnant women and their families. The classes are meant to increase parental involvement in planning for children and their upbringing.
It recommended that though women give birth in hospitals, they should go back to Primary Health Centers after childbirth; the appointment with the primary health counsellor should be scheduled about six weeks after childbirth. The counsellors introduce parental counselling and family planning to the new mothers and also set up schedules for Primary Health Center counsellors visiting the new mothers at home to ensure that they are beastfeeding their babies and everything is going well.
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