Prevention and cure Most maternal deaths are avoidable, as the health-care solutions to prevent or control problems are well recognized. All women require access to prenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care through delivery, and care and support in the weeks after delivery. It is mainly essential that all deliveries are done by experienced health experts, as timely management and treatment can be the difference between life and death. Serious bleeding after delivery can kill a healthy woman in hours if she is neglected. Injecting oxytocin instantly after delivery, efficiently lessens the possibility of bleeding. Infection after delivery can be minimized if not removed if clean delivery practices are followed and if signs of infection are established
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).
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).
According to Healthy People 2020, "Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children, is an important public health goal for the United States. Their well-being determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health care system" (Healthy People 2020, 2015). Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant before his or her first birthday, while fetal mortality is defined as the intrauterine death of a fetus at any gestational age (MMRW, 2013 and MacDorman, Kirmeyer & Wilson, 2012). In the United States an estimated 13,000 fetal deaths occurred ≥ 28 weeks gestation making up 28% of all perinatal deaths in 2006, the latest year with available national data (Lee,
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.
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.
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).
The umbilical cord is an essential lifeline between the mother and fetus. The cord contains two arteries and a vein, is connected to the placenta and provides oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the fetus in-utero. Though parents are informed during discharge on how to perform dry care for the umbilical cord until it falls off approximately within one to two weeks, care for the cord begins in the hospital setting following the delivery. The main implication for umbilical cord care is to prevent infectious conditions of the cord such as: omphalitis which is clinically manifested as inflammation with fever and drainage from the umbilical stump. This infection can turn deadly and lead to sepsis. Traditionally, a number of antiseptic and
Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a significantly life-threatening complication that can occur after both vaginal and caesarean births (Ricci & Kyle, 2009). Simpson and Creehan (2008) define PPH as the amount of blood loss after vaginal birth, usually more than 500mL, or after a caesarean birth, normally more than 1000mL. However, the definition is arbitrary, attributed to the fact that loss of blood during birth is intuitive and widely inaccurate (Ricci & Kyle, 2009). In line with this, studies have suggested that health care providers consistently underestimate actual blood loss, thus, an objective definition of PPH would be any amount of bleeding that exposes a mother in hemodynamic jeopardy (Ricci &
Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily
For a developed nation, the idea of giving birth to a child without a skilled physician nearby monitoring the situation, or clinician of some degree not assisting with the birthing process is unfathomable. Yet, this is a reality in many developing nations across the world, especially the rural communities such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers indicate maternal death due to complications during child birth at being almost 14 times higher in these developing nations compared to their developed counterparts (The Millennium, 2015). The reality of the
The global leading cause of maternal death is postpartum hemorrhaging (PPH), which is the loss of more than 500 milliliters of blood after delivery. “More than 30 percent of all maternal deaths worldwide are attributable to PPH, accounting for approximately 130,000 deaths and 2.6 million disabled women every year” (Massachusetts General Hospital, 2016). Not all PPH cases are avoidable or expected, but they can be treated and prevented if bleeding is immediately controlled and managed. This requires the maternity staff to be competent, have sharp critical thinking skills, uterine medications, supplies, and blood products at their disposal. Timing is the key component to saving a woman’s life during a
Over the years birthing methods have changed a great deal. When technology wasn’t so advanced there was only one method of giving birth, vaginally non-medicated. However, in today’s society there are now more than one method of giving birth. In fact, there are three methods: Non-medicated vaginal delivery, medicated vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery, also known as c-section. In the cesarean delivery there is not much to prepare for before the operation, except maybe the procedure of the operation. A few things that will be discussed are: the process of cesarean delivery, reasons for this birthing method and a few reasons for why this birthing method is used. Also a question that many women have is whether or not they can vaginally
Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE) (2011) Saving mothers’ lives; reviewing maternal deaths to make motherhood safer: 2006-2008. BJOG 18(1): 1-203. London. Blackwell Synergy.
Maternal deaths are related to factors such as sepsis, unsafe abortions, postpartum hemorrhaging, and disease causing complication during pregnancy, Preeclampsia and HIV to name a couple. In the writers opinion maternal fatalities major cause is due to mother’s lack of prenatal care, lack of access to care, and lack of knowledge about programs offered to pregnant woman.
increasing number of infections among women, very young children make up an increasingly large proportion of new infections.