Jaime Nadal (left), UNFPA Deputy Representative makes a point during the handing over of medical supplies to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital by the European Commission and UNFPA on Wednesday. Also present are (from left to right) Colleen Falconer, European Commission project manager; Dr. Douglas McDonald, senior medical officer at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, and Dr. Olivia McDonald, executive director of the National Family Planning Board. - CONTRIBUTED
ON WEDNESDAY, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the European Commission presented the Victoria Jubilee Hospital with 12 foetal heart monitors (pocket model), one central monitoring system, two antepartum foetal monitors, six portable patient monitors and 10 examination lights to reduce the risk of mothers dying during childbirth and aid in the safe delivery of babies.
Speaking during a brief handing-over ceremony at the hospital, UNFPA Deputy Representative for the Office of the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, Jaime Nadal, said it was unacceptable that in this era of "phenomenal discoveries and scientific achievements, women are still dying by the minute from pregnancy-related causes." He said the partnership between the European Commission and UNFPA was "an investment in the reproductive health and well-being of women in Jamaica and also in the fight against poverty."
In receiving the equipment, Dr. Douglas McDonald, senior medical officer at the hospital, said it would help the medical team to better manage the health of women in their care, and in so doing, reduce the number of women who die during childbirth. He added that prior to this, the hospital had only one foetal monitor.
At Victoria Jubilee Hospital, 1,015 babies were delivered in 2005. There were 10 maternal deaths, and according to Dr. McDonald, the prenatal mortality (the number of children who die at about the time of birth) and still birth rates are high.
Jamaica's maternal mortality rate (the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes) - 95 per 100,000 live births - compares favourably with the global figures, but the fact is that many of these deaths can be prevented with reproductive health interventions that are readily available in developed countries.
