Ministry mulls regulating doula service

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health plans to establish a special regulation to control the ‘doula’ service ( assistant during the birth process) for women who are delivering their babies.

Its minister, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, said the move was to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the mother and the baby during the birth process.

“The ministry is monitoring this practice so we can establish a regulation to prevent harm ( to the mother and baby).

“We do not prevent the midwifery practice, which is a tradition, but we just want to make sure the practice is not a risk to the mother or the fetus in the womb,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

He was asked to comment on the trend of giving birth at home including the actions of those who promoted and shared the method in social media.

A doula is an assistant or companion during the birth process to provide emotional support as well as information about pregnancy and birth such as pushing and breathing (during labour).

On the development of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease ( HFMD), Dzulkefly said the ministry had been working with the manufacturers of infection prevention products to jointly address the transmission of the infection.

He said the collaboration focused on the efforts of hand hygiene and disinfectant operation campaigns in playgrounds of shopping complexes.

“Apart from that, we also conduct early screenings of small children before they enter school or nursery. These are some of the steps that we have started,” he said.

So far, more than 35,000 cases of HFMD infections had been recorded, but no critical cases reported, he stressed.