Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo on Friday filed a bill seeking to strengthen the role of midwives in the country’s healthcare system.
Salo filed House Bill 3882 or the Philippine Midwifery Act of 2022 on the day the midwifery profession celebrated its 100th anniversary in the country.
He outlined several reforms to the existing Midwifery Act of 1992 to promote and protect the midwifery profession, rights, and welfare that will bring humane working conditions, better career paths, better salaries, and wage benefits, dignified existence, and contribute significantly to the nation's quest for a healthy citizenry.
To strengthen the practice of midwifery in the country, he said the bill defined the scope of midwifery practice with emphasis on expanding functions of midwives in the community healthcare service; including midwife plantilla position in the hospital; provision of support for independent private midwife; increase midwife-to-patient ratio; mandating the Board of Midwifery to monitor the condition of the profession and ensure quality midwifery education.
In ensuring midwifery education, Salo proposed to make a four-year Bachelor of Science degree, citing that two years are not enough in preparing students to deliver competent delivery services.
“Thus, there is a need to increase the standards of the midwifery curriculum to a four-year bachelor of science degree in order for the Filipino midwife to become well-equipped and highly skilled in offering quality healthcare services and be up to par with international standards in the midwifery practice,“ Salo said.
He added that the four-year course would allow midwives working in the government service to qualify for higher positions for they will be considered professionals.
Aside from strengthening the profession, Salo said the proposed bill also aims to promote the optimal health of mothers and their babies.
“When the midwives are greatly capacitated and their welfare are taken care of, they can also effectively take care of their patients and prevent the incidence of maternal deaths,” he added.
The Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) recently reported that 468 maternal obstetric deaths were recorded in the first six months of 2022.
This year’s figure is higher compared to the 425 deaths recorded in the same period in 2021, it said.
The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) said the rising deaths of mothers and their babies reflect an issue of difficulty in accessing quality services from healthcare facilities in the country.
