Optimizing Maternal Health Services for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women at Islamic Clinic of Sulthan, Muaro Jambi

By : HAFIFATUL AULIYA RAHMY, DENNY CHARIZAN FITRIYANI & EZA TRI YANDY

Nutritional problems are public health problems that can not only be treated with a medical approach and health services. Nutritional problems are closely related to food security issues which are also related to knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that are lacking in a healthy lifestyle (Restu, 2019). This community service aims to empower the Sulthan Islamic Clinic to be able to provide services to the academic community, especially to pregnant and lactating women to be able to improve health during pregnancy and provide proper feeding patterns for babies and children.

The existence of provision of these special facilities is a requirement that must be fulfilled based on regulations regulated by the state with the aim of improving the quality of human resources and glorifying women. The government is targeting exclusive breastfeeding coverage of 80%. However, based on Riskesdas 2018 data, only 37.3% of infants aged 0-6 months receive exclusive breastfeeding. This achievement was lower than in 2016 which was 54% and in 2017 which was 61.33%. Apart from internal factors such as positive attitudes, knowledge, skills, and self-commitment, working mothers also need social support and the availability of special facilities at work in order to be successful in exclusive breastfeeding.

Sulthan Islamic Clinic is one of the health services located on Campus II which is located in Mendalo, Muaro Jambi. Meanwhile, other health facilities are the Sutha Pharmacy and the Joint Doctor Practice located on Campus I Telanaipura. The solution offered refers to Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 42 of 2013 concerning the National Movement for the Acceleration of Nutrition Improvement, namely through specific nutrition interventions and sensitive nutrition interventions, especially for pregnant and lactating women in the environment of UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. This community service is carried out by providing offline and online education through social media WhatsApp.

OPTIMIZATION OF MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES

The service is carried out at the Sulthan Islamic Clinic in collaboration with health staff, namely midwives. Sulthan Islamic Clinic is located on campus II of UIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. Sulthan Islamic Clinic is one of the health services located on campus which has been established since 2008. The mission of the clinic is to become a provider of health services, health promotion, and disease prevention for students, academics, and other participants with the best quality. The existing health workforce consists of general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, midwives, dental nurses, analysts, public health, and others.

 

The community service that we carry out has two objectives, namely optimizing maternal health services at the Islamic Clinic of Sulthan UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi and increasing the knowledge of pregnant and lactating women in the academic community regarding the health of pregnant women and feeding infants and children. For this second purpose, we have done two things: namely providing IYCF feeding services is one of the important aspects in handling stunting incidents, this is evidenced by the formation of the collaboration of the Directorate of Nutrition, Persagi Professional Organization, UNICEF, and Millennium Challenge Account Indonesia in 2014 in the formation IYCF practice module aimed at pregnant women in order to fulfill proper child intake starting from 0-24 months. Feeding Infants and Children (IYCF) is feeding children from the age of 0–24 months. In this case, as mandated by the 1945 Constitution and international agreements such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations Commission on Child Rights, 1989, Article 24), namely providing the best food for children under two years old, including starting from Early Breastfeeding Initiation (IMD) one hour after giving birth, exclusive breastfeeding for up to 6 months, giving complementary food from 6-24 months, continuing to give breastfeeding or called in Indonesia Air Susu Ibu (ASI) and MPASI until they are two years old.

According to the Global Strategy of Infant and Young Child feeding fulfilling proper infant and child feeding to reduce malnutrition rates in children is feeding infants from 0-24 months, including Early Breastfeeding Initiation, Exclusive Breastfeeding 0-6 months, Food Complementing for Breastfeeding (which in Indonesia called ASI) 6–24 months, and continuing breastfeeding and solids for up to 2 years. IMD or early initiation of breastfeeding is the process of breastfeeding starting as soon as possible. Human babies, like baby mammals, have the ability to breastfeed themselves. IMD is carried out by allowing the baby to have skin contact with the mother for at least the first hour after birth or until the initial breastfeeding process ends. According to Fikawati and Syafiq in 2003, the key to the success of exclusive breastfeeding is IMD, research was conducted in 8 districts in West Java and East Java, that mothers who breastfeed immediately The key to the success of exclusive breastfeeding are IMD, research was conducted in 8 districts in West Java and East Java, that mothers who breastfeed immediately after birth (less than an hour) will be 2-8 times more successful at providing exclusive breastfeeding. In the results of Irawati et al.'s study, infants with IMD delay > 1 day 2.46 were not successful in exclusive breastfeeding.

RESULT OF SERVICES

Implementation of educational activities is carried out face-to-face in the clinic room and through the Whats Apps social media application. Participants who have registered are put into a group consisting of participants, counselors, and midwives. Counseling or educational activities carried out received a positive response from pregnant and lactating women at UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. There are several complaints submitted by clients including eating patterns during pregnancy, difficulty pumping breast milk while working, eating patterns of children who are picky eaters, and children's nutritional status

Even though there are obstacles in the implementation of this community service such as adjusting the time between the counselor and the client, the breastfeeding facilities are not yet optimal for mothers to pump milk while at work, the coverage of pregnant and lactating women who receive services is still lacking, but this activity received a good response from mothers pregnant and lactating academics of UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. This activity can increase mothers’ knowledge and also become a forum for pregnant and lactating women to share related problems during pregnancy and breastfeeding.