There is a marked improvement in the number of women who seek antenatal care in the first trimester, says Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton.

Addressing a certification ceremony for four hospitals that have been designated baby-friendly, at the AC Mariott Hotel in New Kingston on June 17, he noted that in 2023, 45 per cent of women received antenatal care in the first trimester, compared to 22 per cent in 2018, and approximately 99 per cent of pregnant women were attended to by skilled personnel.

“What it means is that more people are responding to taking care of themselves, mothers in pregnancy, which means also taking care of their unborn child, which means, in a sense, giving the best opportunity to reduce maternal mortality,” the minister said.

He explained that the improvement allows for the understanding of the vulnerabilities in areas such as adolescent pregnancy, pointing out that the recently launched Teenage Clinic at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital has shown some improvement.

“We have had eight emergency obstetric guidelines for the clinical management of high-priority conditions in pregnancy, and we have disseminated a lot of information out of that. We have revised the patient-held maternal record book for continuity of care and completed neonatal maternal health sections of the maternal health manual,” Dr Tufton said.

The minister reported that over the fiscal year 2024/2025, focus was on capacity-building through online training sessions, based on the updated clinical obstetric guidelines, addressing the major causes of maternal mortality in Jamaica (hypertension, obesity, cardiac disease, sickle cell disease, sepsis, and thromboembolism in pregnancy).

The institutions that have been certified are Bustamante Hospital for Children, Spanish Town Hospital, Port Antonio Hospital, and Noel Holmes Hospital.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding by ensuring health facilities provide optimal care for mothers and newborns.

Tufton said when he became minister, only one hospital had the baby-friendly status, and 11 are now certified, so “it is clear from the results around maternal mortality, we have reduced that to the point where we not only beat the WHO standards, but we save every single child that can be saved, because that is our mission, ultimately”.

“Whoever we are, wherever we come from, at the end of the day, it is about saving the children and giving them the best chance in life,” the minister said.