Role of Pharmacist to Reduce Maternal death rate

Role of Pharmacist to reduce Maternal  Death Rate 

Causes

The most common causes that increase maternal death are postpartum bleeding (15%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (10%), postpartum infections (8%) and obstructed labour (6%) and pre-existing conditions including malaria, anaemia, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease, all of which may complicate pregnancy (28%).

Essential Four elements

Four elements are essential to maternal death prevention, according to the United Nations Fund for Population Activity (UNPFA).

• First, prenatal care It is recommended that expectant mothers receive at least four antenatal visits to check and monitor the health of mother and fetus. 
• Second, intranatal care with emergency backup such as doctors, pharmacists, nurses and midwives who have the skills to manage normal deliveries and recognize the onset of complications. 
• Third, emergency obstetric care to address the major causes of maternal death which are hemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortion, hypertensive disorders, and obstructed labor. 
• Lastly, postnatal care which is the six weeks following delivery. During this time bleeding, sepsis and hypertensive disorders can occur and newborns are extremely vulnerable in the immediate aftermath of birth.

Pharmacist role 

The pharmacist can play a vital role in reducing the maternal mortality rate by effective implementation of maternal & child health program with particular emphasis on antenatal, intranatal, obstetric and postnatal care of mothers.

Pharmacist being technical experts of drugs will take care of mothers by ensuring administration of Iron & Folic acid tablets, Iron & sucrose injection and also fluid management and whole human blood transfusion in the serious cases viz. anemia, hemorrhage, unsafe abortion. A pharmacist provides pharmaceutical care by administering methyldopa 250 mg, nifedipine 10 mg, labetalol 100 mg in the prescribed manner in hypertensive pregnancy & in emergency conditions for the management of hypertension in pregnancy. Pharmacists can prevent sepsis by improved asepsis or by initiating oral/injectable antibiotic therapy to treat sepsis and thus in this manner will help in reducing maternal mortality rate in Rajasthan.