Baramita confident in public health delivery

─ more women accessing primary healthcare at Health Post

─ family planning clinic effective

─ teenage pregnancy rates down

DPI, Guyana, Sunday, September 15, 2019

Expectant mothers are among residents who are now more eager to access the services offered at the Baramita Health Post in Region 1.

Holly Edghilo-Gill, the Medex at the Baramita Health Post, presented this encouraging report to Minister of Public Health, Hon. Volda Lawrence and other officials who visited the facility recently.

The team also included Director of Regional and Clinical Services, Dr. Kay Shako and PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow.

The Baramita Health Post.

Medex Edghilo-Gill [left] meets with Minister of Public Health, Hon. Volda Lawrence and Director of Regional and Clinical Services, Dr. Kay Shako.

The health facility offers a wide range of primary health care services and Edghilo-Gill said residents have been accessing these, in particular, the family planning and prenatal clinic services.

She noted that more women and pregnant mothers have joined the clinic.

Minister Lawrence and her team were also informed that Baramita residents can access birth control implants which have recently been introduced in the village. However, the most requested method of birth control is the Depo-Provera injection.

The Medex said she works closely with two Community Health Workers (CHWs), and the village Toshao and councillors to ensure residents attend the clinic.  The village officials, especially, encourage pregnant mothers to join the clinic during the early stages. At this juncture, deliveries are done at the health post.

“Compared to a few years back, we have more deliveries taking place at the health post. We have our labour room, the emergency drugs and we hardly have mothers with complications because we encourage them to join clinic at least in the first three months so we could monitor them,” Edghilo-Gill said.

In cases of high-risk pregnancies, at 35 weeks, the mothers-to-be are sent to the GPHC for continued monitoring and safe deliveries. The medex also reported that teenage pregnancies in the village have decreased.