SANDAKAN: A recent medical outreach programme in a far-flung village in Tongod here aimed to help minimise health risks among mothers and babies through family planning and contraception.
The district of Tongod is a more than two-hour drive down a pothole-ridden road to the nearest Duchess of Kent Hospital.
Held at Kampung Entilibon, the programme saw 30 women consent to free contraceptives with a success rate of more than 99 per cent for up to three years.
The contraceptive is a small, flexible rod that is inserted under the skin of the upper arm, where it releases a steady dose of the hormone etonogestrel.
Telupid Health Clinic family medicine specialist Dr Woweham Sindeh said the participants were selected from a list of women enrolled in pre-pregnancy care (PPC) at government clinics.
"Any woman who is enrolled under PPC is deemed to have a risk of complications during pregnancy.
"Studies have shown that a poor pregnancy gap of less than 24 months has been associated with poor maternal and foetal outcomes. "For example, mothers may experience bleeding, postpartum haemorrhage, premature rupture of membrane and anaemia.
"As for babies, the risks are stillbirth, neonatal mortality, small for gestational age, preterm births, low birth weight and under-5-year-old mortality."
Dr Woweham said while some mothers were still sceptical about contraception, the participants of the programme, who are mostly housewives, were accepting of modern methods of contraception. Many women still do not have access to effective contraception methods due to their high cost.
Apart from the administration of the contraceptives, there were also awareness talks on the importance of birth spacing, effective ways to prevent pregnancy and identifying villagers at reproductive age who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as the distribution of deworming, lice and scabies medications during the programme.
The event was jointly organised by the personnel of the Sandakan Orthopaedic Association and health clinics in Telupid, Tongod and Entilibon.
Present were Tongod district officer Nelson Domil Oluk, who officiated at the event, Sandakan Health Clinic family medicine specialist Dr Noreen Ooi and Entilibon Health Clinic advisory panel chairperson Sunsing Pitalai.
The programme was sponsored by Telupid assemblyman Jonnybone Kurum, Wanita Upko, Organon Malaysia, Kim Loong Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur-Kepong Sdn Bhd, Tatap Kalaga, Estate Masih Jaya, Kedai Runcit Tajuddin Enterprise, Faas Mart Entilibon, Restoran Aladdin Entilibon, Kedai Runcit Queenzie Entilibon, Klinik Dr Mahen Telupid, Sri Entilibon Hardware and the JS Service Centre, Sandakan.