Maternal and child mortality in developing countries

  

Reading through the material provided i personally found it very informative and educative and touching. It made me realize the enormity of maternal and child mortality. It makes it even more overwhelming when you know that in sub-Saharan Africa a woman has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth as compare to 1 in 2,800 risks for a woman from a developed region and also the fact that in sub-Saharan Africa 1 in 8 children dies before their fifth birthday while in Southern Asia 1 in 14 children die before age five, alarming statistics yet true

It is also more alarming that these 8 million children and 350,000 women who die each year die of causes that could be prevented. It is recognized that the health of women and children is key to progress. Of all development goals less improvement is said to have been made on maternal health than any other Millennium development goal. It is as such very important to save women and children thus the reason why “Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health” sets out how we can work together to save women and children.

  

A mother’s health profoundly affects the health and well-being of her children.I can still remember  as if it was yesterday when my mother was sick my sibling and i almost went hungry ,her health affected everybody in the house because even our sanitation and  education suffered when she was sick .The aim is reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 (http://www.childinfo.org/maternal_mortality). 

It has been observed that the lifetime risk of maternal death is much greater in the poorest countries than in the richest (1 in 12 for women in east Africa compared with 1 in 4000 in northern Europe).

The follow reasons are causes of maternal death. 25% of maternal deaths are caused by severe bleeding, infection 15%, unsafe abortion 13%, eclampsia 12%, obstructed labor 8%, Indirect causes including anemia, malaria, 20% heart disease and 8% other causes which include ectopic pregnancy, or complication of anesthesia or embolism.  ( BMJ 2001)   

 According to the 2000 -2003  global distribution  of under five deaths of major causes of child mortality pneumonia  19%,neonatal 37%,Aids 3%,diarrhea account for 17 per cent of under-five deaths, malaria and measles account for  12% while injuries and other causes (such as armed conflicts) account for  13 %  of child mortality.These are closely linked to Child under nutrition ,unsafe water, poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitation (http://www.unicef.org/health).  

Both social and biological reason account for maternal and child mortality. Income and maternal education are two causal determinants of child mortality in populations of the developing world.  Maternal education has a strong impact on infant and child mortality.Startistics show that each year increment in mother’s education corresponds with a 7-9% decline of under- 5s’mortality (Soc Sci Med Vol 27).The factors found in repeated DHS programmes explains these trends are fertility behavior; nutritional status, breastfeeding, and infant feeding; the use of health services by mothers and for children; environmental health conditions; and socioeconomic status. An educated woman understands these well and is much likely to practice them and has options to consider from.

Although poverty is closely associated to maternal and child mortality society's inefficiency in planning, and the incapacity to make changes can greatly account for mortality. The  political will to address the problem of maternal health in developing countries is most often not at the focal center because the magnitude of the problem is not yet grasp ,government do not consider greatly it importance and in cases where there are done it is often done without a clear view of the concrete content of the political and social strategies that are the necessary complements of an adequate knowledge base (Atwood et al. 1997).

Preventing maternal deaths requires a functioning health system which often is not very ineffective in developing world either due of lack of it or the poor state and under staffed and equipped state there are in. Health care is very important and as such there is the need to mobilize professionals and the community. Limited awareness of the magnitude and manageability of the problem increases maternal and child mortality. Antenatal care and training of traditional birth attendants makes it possible for women in rural areas to have access to antenatal care and birth attendants thus decreasing maternal and child mortality.

Some cultural practices affect maternal and child mortality. In cases where selective abortion is practice where the female fetus is aborted it increases the ratio of child mortality and gender discrimination paractise.Some cultures still practice female genital mutilation which have lead to some women dying of bleeding or of an infection. This according to the world health organization has great effects on the woman’s health and child birth

To conclude the good news is that accounting  latest United Nations under-five mortality estimates released  2010  by UNICEF suggest 12,000 fewer children are dying each day around the world compared to 1990 still more needs to be done because it is pathetic to see  women and children dying from preventable causes.

References

Atwood K, Colditz GA, Kawachi I (1997) From public health science to prevention policy: placing science in its social and political contexts. American Journal of Health Planning 87, 1603–1606.

Levels & Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2010.” United Nations Inter-Agency Group on Child Mortality Estimation.

Reducing maternal mortality in developing world:sector-wide approaches may be key.BMJ 2001; 322 : 917 doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7291.917 (Published 14 April 2001)

Maternal education and child survival in developing countries by John G. Cleland and Jerome K. van Ginneken in Social Science & Medicine Volume 27, Issue 12

http://www.unicef.org/health)

http://www.childinfo.org/maternal_mortality)