NCDs can complicate pregnancies, says Tufton

Health minister bats for further reduction in island's maternal mortality rate; urges families to assist pregnant loved ones to prepare for childbirth

Health and Wellness Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, has declared that Jamaica's maternal mortality rate needs to be reduced further despite improvements that have been realised.

At the same time, Tufton said more work needs to be done by both healthcare professionals and family members of expectant mothers to ensure that such mothers-to-be are better prepared for the delivery of their babies, as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) can "complicate" pregnancies.

The overall statement by Tufton came on the heels of the tragic death of 14-year-old Anna-Shay Campbell, who passed away after experiencing difficulties during childbirth on December 10.

Anna-Shay's mother blamed medical personnel at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine for negligence relative to her teenage daughter's death, as she (Anna-Shay's mother) had requested that a Caesarean section (C-section) be done for her daughter, instead of a natural birth.

In addressing reporters on the issue during a visit to the hospital last week, Tufton said the Health Ministry is awaiting a report on the circumstances of the death of young Anna-Shay.

He said the report should be ready in approximately six weeks.

"In this case, based on my interaction with the mother (of Anna-Shay), I believe that more should have been done, and could have been done, to provide her at least with a level of comfort while recognising the distress that she's in, because it’s a distressing situation," said Tufton.

Turning to maternal mortality locally, he said he is concerned about the pain for loved ones, this while pointing to the possibility of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) affecting pregnancies.

"I'm concerned on the basis of the statistics that have been given to me (relative to maternal mortality).

'We have been assessing, and I'm not a medical technician, but myself, with the team responsible for assessing the records, have been looking at maternal mortality across the country, and we have seen a steady increase," Tufton informed.

"Some of that may have been due to COVID, some of that are linked to late presentation of an expectant mother and complications, because one of the things that we have to recognise is that the significant rate of NCDs in the population (such as) hypertension, diabetes and so on, does create more complicated pregnancies," Tufton explained.

To combat this issue, Tufton stressed the importance of expectant mothers following a strict regime of visitation and treatment up to the time of delivery.

"The truth is the system is aware of this (maternal mortality), and what we have to do is ensure that the system responds to it.

"Part of that is the burden on the (health) system, and part of it is to encourage expectant mothers and their families to have a regime of visitation and treatment up to the delivery of a child. So we have to find that model that brings everyone together," Tufton stated.

"But the numbers (relative to maternal mortality), we need to get down further, and there have been some improvements, but we need to get it down further," the minister indicated.