To help curb the maternal mortality rate, West Nusa Tenggara Governor M. Zainul Majdi has announced a new policy that exempts women from delivery fees.
However, the policy will only be in effect from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3.
“The gubernatorial policy is aimed at bringing down the maternal mortality rate in the province,” Andi Hadiyanto, a spokesman for the provincial administration told Antara news agency.
Andi said the delivery fee would be covered by the government-sponsored community health insurance (Jamkesmas).
West Nusa Tenggara is one of several provinces with high maternal mortality rates, with 350 out of 10,000 women dying in delivery, and an infant mortality rate of 61.2 per 1,000 childbirths.
The head of the provincial health agency, M. Ismail, blamed the high mortality rates on poor education levels and late pre-delivery treatment.
Delivery fee exemptions introduced in Ghana in 2007 resulted in a significant increase in the number of facility-based deliveries among the poorest and least-educated women and benefited women who faced financial barriers to healthcare and were at the highest risk of maternal mortality.
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