THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORTS IN ORDER TO REDUCING MATERNAL AND INFANT MORTALITY IN SURABAYA

Maternal and infant mortality is one of the health problems that continues to be an issue in Indonesia. Surabaya is one of the city in Indonesia with high maternal mortality (38 cases on 2015) and infant mortality case (282 cases on 2015). One of the indirect efforts to reducing maternal and infant mortality is increasing social supports towards pregnant woman. Social supports can achieves from closest family, relatives, neighbors, or another people around mother and baby. GELIAT UNAIR (GErakan peduLi Ibu dan Anak sehaT Universitas Airlangga) utilize this method to accelerate reducing maternal and infant mortality in Surabaya. By empowering students of Airlangga University in assisting the pregnant women until giving birth, can help increase social supports for mothers since their pregnancy until after they gives birth. Social supports given by the students expected can help reduce maternal anxiety, facilitate access of mothers to obtain information related to pregnancy and infant health, and may provide an encouragement to the mothers to maintain the mothers and their babies health. This program carried out since 2015 towards the mothers in 6 Public Health Centers in Surabaya. Until 2016, the volunteers of GELIAT UNAIR already assist 165 pregnant women and 132 of them already giving birth safely. Good and appropriate social supports effective to decrease the maternal and infant mortality. Hopefully this program can continue to be conducted and duplicated thoroughly in Surabaya, as well as in other areas throughout Indonesia