PHL prenatal class turnout ‘world’s largest’ –Guinness

THE Philippines is now the certified world record holder for the “largest prenatal class in multiple venues.”

The event so crowned by the London-based Guinness World Records was the March 10, 2012, “Buntis Day” organized by the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS), with support from local governments, the Department of Health (DOH) and Biofemme, a division of United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab). Buntis is Filipino for “pregnant.”

Guinness World Records formally transmitted the certification for the award to the Philippines, through Biofemme and POGS, last month.

The certificate reads, “The largest prenatal class held across multiple venues involved 13,407 participants in an event organized by the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society in a total of 52 locations on March 10, 2012.”

This was turned over to POGS President Rey de los Reyes by Biofemme General Manager Herman Esling in simple rites held at the POGS office, in the presence of POGS board of trustees and Biofemme and Unilab key personnel.

The simultaneous prenatal classes were conducted in venues as far north as Tuguegarao City and General Santos and Zamboanga cities in Mindanao in the country’s South.

The DOH and the local governments helped in gathering the pregnant women for the prenatal classes, which were documented through videos and photos and certified by local officials. These were sent to the Guinness office in London for validation. Buntis Day is an annual event of POGS pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 569, which was issued in 2004 through the efforts of then-POGS President Rosendo R. Roque. March 10 of every year was declared as the day for pregnant women.

This year, according to de los Reyes, they decided to go for a Guinness World Records certification to highlight further the importance of pre-natal care, especially in the Philippines, where maternal mortality rate has gone up.

“We always say the health of our pregnant women is compromised when they deliver their babies. So the primary objective is to emphasize that pre-natal is very important during pregnancy, and babies and their mothers are precious human beings that we need to take care of, as well,” he said.

De los Reyes added that it is important for pregnant women to have at least three prenatal checkups during the nine-month pregnancy period. At a prenatal class, he said, doctors teach pregnant women the things that they need to do, what they need to eat, and the signs and symptoms that they need to be aware of that may indicate possible abnormalities and complications. The expectant mothers are also advised what types of laboratory exams they need to undergo.

Based on DOH records, maternal mortality rate in the country increased from 162 per 100,000 in 2006 to 221 per 100,000 live births in 2011.

“What we achieved may highlight further the importance of prenatal care. It is very important in our aim to achieve Millennium Development Goal 5, which is to reduce the maternal mortality rate to 52 per 100,000 by 2015. Now, maybe that is quite difficult to achieve but hopefully it would drop to less than 100 per 100,000 by 2015,” de los Reyes said.

Biofemme General Manager Herman T. Esling said, “The company has been and always will be a partner with the POGS because we believe in its cause, [as] embodied in its mission statement, which is to provide the highest quality women’s health care and increase awareness for women’s health issues through advocacy programs and education of health-care providers and the community.” –Max V. de Leon / Reporter, Businessmirror