M

other'€™s Day, celebrated on Dec. 22, is neither a major celebration nor part of the nation'€™s culture. But for some people the occasion provides the perfect opportunity to express their love and appreciation to their mothers.

However, many ask: Why wait for Mother'€™s Day to thank our mothers? They say we hardly have time to appreciate our mothers'€™ commitment to their families due to our busy days at schools or workplaces. We'€™d better move beyond the rhetoric and work together to make our mother'€™s condition better.

A major issue is to do with reducing the specter of death in relation to pregnancy and labor. The maternal mortality rate in Indonesia is the highest in Southeast Asia and currently hovers at 307 deaths for every 100,000 live births.

Experts blame most of the deaths on preventable excessive bleeding and convulsions during pregnancy, related to the lack of skilled birth attendants and family planning services. To prevent many of these maternal deaths we need wide-scale training of community-based midwives and must equip them with basic supplies and medicines. In places without doctors, these midwives could provide clean, safe deliveries with low risk of maternal infections and initiate treatment where signs of such infection appear and stop postpartum hemorrhage.

No less important is provision of contraceptives and sensitization of the communities to encourage birth spacing and reducing the family size, with proper laws that prevent pregnancies in teenage marriages and early pregnancies, also to avoid unsafe abortions.

Another issue is maternity leave. It is ironic that while the government encourages mothers to breastfeed, the duration of maternity leave is only three months. For first time mothers, for instance, the whole experience of having a child can be very overwhelming and the transition from having a baby to going back to work is highly challenging.

Experts say that infants should be breastfed for at least six months, how is this possible if the facilities are not in place to breastfeed infants (feeding rooms) outside of the three months maternity leave offered. Workplaces should provide not only nursery rooms, but also nurses to supervise babies during working hours.

Researchers at the University of California in 2011 found that returning to work within 12 weeks of delivery had a greater impact on breastfeeding establishment for women in non-managerial positions, with inflexible jobs. Meanwhile, women who took six to 12 weeks of maternity leave had a two-fold greater risk of failing to establish breastfeeding.

To save the lives of mothers here, serious efforts must be centered on budgets as reflection of political will, and laws to ensure the quality of care. If we cannot attain our commitments using our own resources, it makes eminent sense to call on our friends in the international community to help us with timely concessions, focused on saving the lives of our mothers.

Today, we should take the chance to know our mother. Take her out, engage her in a conversation, and treat her like a cherished friend. Today is a good day as any to begin another level of relationship with her, especially before it is too late.

Thank you Bunda, for nurturing and guiding me. Thank you for your total dedication and sacrifice as my mother, my teacher, my mentor, my counselor and my friend for life. Selamat Hari Ibu. Happy Mother'€™s Day.

The author, a mother of two, is a freelance writer living in Padang, West Sumatra.