Caring for mother and child

Have you ever given it a thought how vital is the health of women pre and post-delivery? How even a slight ignorance during this crucial stage can be life threatening both for the mother and the child! If reports are an indication, then the situation is pretty serious. For, in the developing countries, pregnancy and childbirth is one of the leading causes of death for women of reproductive age, and one child in 12 does not reach his or her fifth birthday. The talking issue It's this alarming situation and realisation to manage the rising problem that the issue is getting an increased attention. Highlighting an invisible health crisis, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has made maternal and child health the focus of World Health Day (WHD) this year.
Accordingly, the chosen theme is "Make every mother and child count". The slogan reflects the reality that today, governments and the international community need to make the health of women and children a high priority.
But, the question arises: why target this particular area? Reasons are many, and disturbing. As per the statistics, in India alone, 136,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth every year. Globally, every minute, a woman dies from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. That means, 1,600 deaths every year, more than half a million deaths every year worldwide. In addition, for every woman who dies in childbirth, around 20 more suffer injury, infection, or disease, approximately ten million women each year. What's disturbing, however, is that 99 per cent of these deaths occur in the developing world. Not only that, some one million children are left motherless each year as a result of maternal deaths. What's being done In establishing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four years ago, the international community committed itself to reducing maternal deaths by three quarters, and reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.
Announcing the theme of the WHD this year, the Director-General, WHO echoed the same sentiments. "The real tragedy," notes Dr Lee Jong-wook, WHO Director-General, "is that millions of women and children are dying needlessly, and we are failing to act. We do not need to discover a cure for child birth complications, or for a little girl with pneumonia, we simply need to apply the knowledge we already have to saving lives." What needs to be done Women need not die in childbirth. The vast majority of maternal deaths could be prevented if women had access to, and used, skilled care during pregnancy, childbirth and first month after delivery, or to quality family planning services.

As Dr Sudhansh Malhotra, Regional Advisor, Child Health and Development, Regional Office (South-East Asia), WHO points out, "The maternal and child mortality rate can be brought down and reduced by successfully taking care of a number of vital factors. To take a cue, pregnant women should have access to well-equipped resources (read health centres), skilled birth attendance, and no delay in being transported to the health centre."
Elaborating it further, he says both pre and post delivery care is important for the health of the mother and the child. There are other related issues as well that can help in reducing the mortality rates. To name a few, nutrition of the mother during pregnancy and adequate rest, age at the time of first pregnancy, access to family planning measures. Raising the awareness the crux to the problem lies in how well equipped we are in handling the situation. At the same time, how there should be an access to the right information (on the part of the women). To this, Dr Razia Pendse, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, Regional Office (South-East Asia), WHO says, "What's important is that the status of women should be raised. They should have access to the information about their health and care during the pregnancy. Also their decision-making capacity should be improved. And they should be aware (and decide themselves) about the quality of the care in the hospitals and health centres."
To end the discussion, it goes without saying that maternal mortality is a human rights and equity issue. Ensuring that mothers survive pregnancy and childbirth is fundamentally about women's rights and about creating a just and equitable society.