Paulina Quintao – The Deputy President of the Timor-Leste Parliamentary Women's Group (GMPTL), Albina Marcal, said many women especially in rural areas were having multiple pregnancies close together every year because of a lack of information about reproductive health.

She said the government had created a good plan related to maternal and adolescent sexual and reproductive health, but it had not been implemented effectively.

"The reality shows that mothers in rural areas give birth [repeatedly] every year and this can impact on their health physically and mentally," she said at a national conference on sexual and reproductive health rights entitled 'investing in women's health, investing in the future of Timor-Leste'.

However, she acknowledged that there had been significant progress in the health sector, most notably the establishment of health centers and posts at local level.

She said all relevant institutions needed to work together to respond to the issue, particularly in terms of raising awareness in communities about sexual health in order to prevent maternal and child mortality, as well as reduce unplanned teenage pregnancies in the country.

She said investing in women's health was just as important as investing in human development, families, society and the nation.

However, President of the Ermera Women's Association Maria Exposto said the level of assistance provided for women's reproductive health in rural areas was not effective due to a lack of coordination between the relevant ministries.

"Women do not go for consultations at health facilities and most of them give birth at home because they have no information about reproductive health," she said.

Although the Health Ministry has placed health personnel in all rural areas in Timor with the objective of providing better assistance to communities, Exposto said in reality this had not been effective in raising the standard of care as there was nowhere for medical staff to stay near their place of work.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Maria do Ceu Sarmento acknowledged that reproductive health was a priority issue and that the ministry still had a lot of work to do to in terms of providing effective and quality assistance to communities, especially women.

"Pregnant women should have four check-ups during pregnancy, but the data shows that only 50.3% of women have complete check-ups during [their] pregnancy," she said. She added it was important to have routine check-ups in order to prevent complications during pregnancy.

As part of a family health program launched by the ministry, Sarmento said medical staff were conducting home visits to check on the health status of families, as well as detect diseases early and identify any problems during pregnancy.

According to Sarmento, the three main issues that impact on the level of maternal health care women receive are late decision-making, the cultural practice of letting mother-in-laws determine the place of birth and lack of basic infrastructure, including roads and transport.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/gender/14102-women-still-lack-information-about-family-planning