Not a single poster or brochure

Not a single poster or brochure

April 21 was Ibu Kartini day, in honor of the Indonesian hero
who inspired so many women and who died in childbirth. Despite
some progress in combating maternal mortality, it remains a great
problem in Indonesia. On April 20, I had the misfortune to spend
five hours in the lobby of Rumah Sakit Bunda, one of Jakarta's
better maternity hospitals. During that wait, which was
characterized by a total lack of professionalism (but that is
another letter) I was struck by the fact that there was not one
single poster, pamphlet, or brochure in the lobby on safe
motherhood, maternal mortality risks and solutions, family
planning, or any other reproductive health message.

There was a captive audience in that lobby who surely would
have been more interested in learning about health and pregnancy
than staring at blank walls for hours. I know for a fact that
very good material on these subjects is available through the
Ministry of Health, National Family Planning Board, and donor-
sponsored health projects. Currently, the Maternal Neo-natal
Health (MNH) program is conducting a white ribbon campaign to
increase awareness of maternal mortality and it would be an ideal
source for information, education and communication (IEC)
materials. Rumah Sakit Bunda's clients are already better off
then many other Indonesian women because they are seeking
services from a hospital and are receiving prenatal care. Imagine
how much better off they could be if Rumah Sakit Bunda made a
better attempt to provide educational materials. It is a real
shame that an institution which focuses on maternity is not
taking advantage of the good IEC work of the Ministry of Health
and others. If Indonesia is truly going to honor the memory of
Ibu Kartini, then institutions like Rumah Sakit Bunda need to
increase their effort to share information on safe motherhood
with their clients.

LUCY S. MIZE

Jakarta