FAMILY HEALTH

Definitions Of FamilyAccording to Robert Francis Winch,

family is defined at three levels:• nuclear• extended • general.

Nuclear family

‘’ a family consisting of a married couples and their children;

the children can be born or adopted’’.

Extended family

‘’ a nuclear family plus collateral kinship.’’

Ex. father, grand father, mother collateral indicates relationships such as uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews etc.

Joint family

a family consisting of two or more married couples

staying together with children.

“Family health is more than the sum of the personal health of Individuals.

Family should be distinguished as:

A unit of health and unit for care.

Family health is a part and component of community

health.

We can consider health as a quality of life that is a function

of at least social, mental, emotional, spiritual and physical

health.

Maternal Health Care

Motherhood should be a time of expectation and joy for a woman, her family, and her community.

Worldwide, it is estimated that 529,000 women die

yearly from complications of pregnancy and childbirth—

about one woman every minute.

Some 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries,

where a woman's lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related

complications is 45 times higher than that of her

counterparts in developed countries.

60–80% of maternal deaths are due to:• obstetric hemorrhage• obstructed labor• obstetric sepsis • hypertensive disorders of pregnancy• complications of unsafe abortion.

An Inter Agency Group (IAG) for Safe Motherhood, which joined by UNICEF, UNDP, IPPF, and the

Population Council have programs to reduce maternal mortality and

morbidity

Programs to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity, which

include:• Providing family planning services. • Providing post abortion care. • Promoting antenatal care. • Ensuring skilled assistance during

childbirth • Improving essential obstetric care

Essential Services for Safe Motherhood

Safe motherhood can be achieved by providing high quality maternal health services to all women.

These services for safe motherhood should

be readily available to clinics and hospitals

through all kind of communication

Essential Services include

1. Community education on safe motherhood

2. Prenatal care and counseling, including the promotion of maternal nutrition

3. Skilled assistance during childbirth 4. Care for obstetric complications,

including emergencies

5. Postpartum care 6. Post-abortion care and, where abortion

is not against the law, safe services for the termination of pregnancy

7. Family planning counseling, information and services

8.Reproductive health education and services for

adolescents

Causes of Maternal Mortality and Morbidity

Medical Factors ♦ Anaemia of pregnancy ♦ Obstructed labour

♦Infections ♦Hypertension

Health delivery system factors ♦ Inadequate action taken by

health personnel ♦ Lack of essential supply and

trained staff. ♦ Lack of access to health

services ♦ Low coverage of immunization

and ♦ Inadequate health care facility

Reproductive factors ♦ Pregnancy in age under 19 and greater

than 35 years ♦ Four or more pregnancies ♦ Practice of early marriage

♦High fertility ♦HIV/AIDS

♦ Unwanted pregnancy e.g. unsafe or induced abortion

Socio-economic factors♦Poverty, ♦Malnutrition,

♦ Low level of female education ♦ Law status of women ♦ Practices of early marriage ♦ Poor environmental sanitation and

personal hygiene,

Harmful traditional practices

♦ Practices of early marriage ♦ Inappropriate timing of pregnancy ♦ Short pregnancy interval (less

than two years) ♦ Female Genital Mutilation

Maternal health services

Components of maternal health services ♦Preconception care

♦ Prenatal care (Antenatal care) ♦Delivery care

♦ Care for the newborn ♦Postnatal care