Improving Maternal Health During The United Nations Millennium Development Goals

At least half of all stillbirths occurred in the intrapartum period. Among the 133 million babies born alive each year, 2.8 million die in the first week of life. The patterns of these deaths are similar to the patterns for maternal deaths; the majority occurring in developing countries. Quality skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth are key for the health of the baby and the mother. In the regions with the highest neonatal mortality rates, access to postnatal care is abysmally low. In the majority of countries with data in sub-Saharan African and South Asia, fewer than half of mothers and babies receive a postnatal health check.

Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.

Death and illnesses among women, infant, and child are preventable. In pregnancy, existing health risks can distinguish or prevent any future health problems for women and their children. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2016), some high-risk factors that may consider are the following: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, depression, genetic conditions, sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco and alcohol abuse, inadequate nutrition and unhealthy weight. By having this government Healthy 2020 initiative, factors that can affect the pregnancy and childbirth such as poverty,

Childbirth is one of the greatest privileges on the earth anyone could have and we, as women, should feel proud to be major contributors for it. Thus, a mother has to play a key role in aiding the healthcare workers to mitigate the health crisis associated with childbirth by performing her duties faithfully. One such associated health crisis is “Premature (preterm) birth” which occurs when the baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of gestational period (CDC, 2015). The rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born across 184 countries (WHO, 2015).

Maternal mortality represents more than the loss of lives for individual women, as it also reflects the larger value and prioritization of women 's health and threatens the health and survival of families, young children, and even the communities in which they live (Royston and Armstrong, 1989). Maternal mortality is unacceptably high (WHO, 2015b). Globally, approximately 830 women die every day from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications (ibid.). The causes of maternal mortality are predominately preventable and can be classified into three fundamental causes: (1) medical - consisting of direct medical problems and pre-existent/coexistent medical problems that are aggravated by pregnancy, (2) underlying - social and legal conditions, and (3) health systems laws and policies that address availability, accessibility, and quality of reproductive health services (PHP et al, 2011).

Economic growth has much improved the infant mortality rate though better healthcare facilities and living conditions. Japan has fallen to one of the world’s lowest infant mortality levels at 3.6 per 1,000 live births in 2006 (Saigusa, 2006). Infant mortality is largely affected by the health of the mother, which makes pre-natal health imperative in keeping infant mortality rates low. Since Japan offers health care to all, access to prenatal care is easier to get therefore making mothers healthier and help in finding complications earlier in the pregnancy.

The Ottawa Charter emphasises the importance of global health promotion by identifying necessary conditions, sectors and resources involved in obtaining optimum community health. This is broken down into five strategies building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments for mother and child, strengthening community actions, developing personal skills, and reorienting health services (McMurray & Clendon, 2015). This essay will address optimum maternal health being ensured by the support of nurses and midwives to maintain healthy lives for both mother and child. Proceeding with a brief description of maternal health, followed by the role of the nurse/ midwife in response to the condition. This will be in relation to the five major

The fifth goal is to increase maternal health in countries with a focus on reducing the maternal mortality rate by three-fourths and universal access to reproductive health both by 2015. Despite a 43% reduction in maternal deaths since 1990, there are still a large number of women who die during childbirth from preventable causes such as hemorrhaging (United Nations, 2015, p. 38).

Today, premature birth is presumably one the most generally discussed points. Around the globe, more than 40% of all ladies will end a pregnancy by premature birth eventually in their conceptive lives. In the United States alone, there are more than 1 million premature births that are played out every year. Around the world, there are around 20-30 million premature births that are performed legitimately consistently. Illicit premature birth is to a great degree perilous and is an upsetting issue that the world faces today. Around 10-20 million premature births are performed illicitly consistently representing 13% of all passings of ladies. Despite the fact that lawful premature births are a protected procedure, it is as yet an issue of completion a pure life. Thus, I emphatically concur that in the event that we will stand firm against premature birth, we should do significantly more as far as guiding and giving different types of help to the imminent mother.

The stern figures of the global burden of pregnancy-related deaths are now so well known. Every year, approximately eight million women suffer pregnancy-related complications 289 000 women die due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, and 6.6 mil¬lion children below 5 years of age die of complications in the newborn period and of common childhood diseases. Worldwide, the majority of maternal and newborns deaths occur around the time of birth, typically within the first 24 hours after childbirth. In developing countries, one woman in 16 may die due to pregnancy-related complications compared to one in 2800 in developed countries. Many of these maternal and neonatal deaths more than 80% of could be prevented or avoided through actions

That is almost thirty-five percent of all births. Along with all of the common issues, there are new ones arising. For example, in Afghanistan there has been an increase in sales of over-the-counter oxytocin which is an injectable hormone that can be used to stop postpartum bleeding and speed up labor but can be deadly if given incorrectly. Finally, after millions of deaths and little government action, the issue of maternal mortality is once and for all attracting attention. In July, at the G-8 summit of industrialized nations in Hokkaido, Japan, maternal deaths were acknowledged as an important obstacle to development for the first time. It paid off and there has been progress in multiple poor countries. For example, in Honduras maternal mortality rates dropped by about fifty percent after rural clinics were opened and thousands of midwives were trained. In the Indian states of Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa pregnant women were given financial assistance. In Sierra Leone there were even fines set if a woman didn’t give birth in a

World Health Organization. (2011, November). More midwives needed to improve maternal and newborn survival. Retrieved October 25, 2017, from

In 2013, 289 000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth and it was estimated that everyday 800 women all over the world died from childbirth or childbirth-related problems (World Health Organization, 2014). Often, maternal mortality is found to occur more often in developing countries than developed countries. Maternal mortality refers women who died from the situation like during pregnancy, termination of pregnancy within 42 days, regardless of duration and place of pregnancy, from aggravation caused by the pregnancy or pregnancy management (Nwagha et al, 2010). Maternal mortality may be resulted from direct or indirect cause. Direct causes are from obstetric complications of pregnancy, labour, and puerperium, and interventions whereas indirect causes are from the worsening of current conditions by pregnancy or delivery (Givewell, 2009). This paper aims to examine the causes for maternal mortality in both developed and developing countries and will end with a proposal for government to ensure women are given reproductive health rights.

Furthermore, Sudden Infant Death is growing across the world and I believe that it will be wise and good to know which countries are affected by this sudden deaths that affects babies. According the Nation Master website research, Angolo is the country with the high rate of Sudden Infant Death. The countries followed by Angolo all the way to the tenth position are mostly African countries. When I saw the rankings I wasn't really surprised that African countries would be on t top of the list. Just think about the struggles and obstacles that most pregnant women face in their native countries in Africa. Just think about the health care services that pregnant women in other countries receive in other countries excluding countries in Africa. Since most women in African countries don’t receive proper health care, they don't really know and understand how to give birth to a healthy

When a woman gets to the pregnancy stage of her life, it is a very exciting and painful journey that most women go through or look forward to experience. Growing up in Africa, giving birth is considered to be one of the most important duties of a woman so women can have as many babies as she can. For example my grandmother had ten children. But when a woman gives birth to a baby with some deformities she sometimes face a lot of scrutinizes from the family because it is believed that if both parent of the child is healthy then automatically the baby has to be healthy and due to lack of education other factors were never put into consideration. But now thanks to education we can have an insight on causes that can affect a baby and also how to prevent these from happening.