ABSTRACTS FOR INTERNATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH CONFERENCE 2019 (I-FaH 2019). Health Intervention Towards Community Wellness, Held at Oriental Crystal Hotel, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. 4-5th September, 2019
Introduction: In Malaysia, the proportion of safe deliveries remains above 98% since 2010. Safe delivery is defined as deliveries conducted by trained personnel; either doctors, nurses with midwifery training or community nurses. Despite the good coverage of trained personnel and continuous effort to promote birth preparedness among antenatal mothers, unsafe delivery still occur in Malaysia and reported as 0.5% in NHMS 2016.
Methods: A retrospective analysis on the characteristics of unsafe deliveries from the national surveillance data for the period of 2015 to 2017 was carried out. Characteristics of mothers are extracted from the reports of unsafe delivery investigation by Ministry of Health Malaysia and descriptive analyses are carried out by year for trending.
Results: Total of 985 unsafe deliver-ies were reported and investigated in 2015, 1201 in 2016 and 1045 in 2017. About 37.7% to 49.9% (n=453-521) of these deliveries were among Malaysians followed by 22.9% to 40% (n=239-394) among non-citizen without identification document and 11.1% to 27.6% (109-332 deliveries) among non-citizen with identification document. It is commonly reported among mothers aged 26 to 35 years old (38.6% to 43.4%; n=454-463) and multiparous (47.3% to 52.0%; n=494-512). About 25.5% to 35.4% (n=251-370) of these mothers never attended antenatal check-up. Five main reported reasons which had contributed to the unsafe deliveries in 2015 to 2017 were; invalid identification documents, financial constraints, transportation problems, far distance from health facilities and mother’s personal choice.
Conclusion: These findings translate into possible intervention targeted the above population on unsafe deliveries. Multi-sectoral strategies and inter-agency partnership are needed in strengthening the intervention.