I
have given birth to four beautiful and healthy babies. As soon as I suspected I
might be pregnant, I went to the doctor and began prenatal care. There were no
complications with the first three. I delivered each time in a hospital with my
nurses and doctors help. With the first three, my husband and family waited in
the waiting room while I delivered. With my last daughter, which was 16 years
later, I was considered high risk because I was 40. At about 5 months, I began to have bladder
infections, blood pressure problems, and developed gestational diabetes. The doctors pulled me off my job, limited my
activities, and treated my infections, and diabetes. I had quite a few ultrasounds and amniocentesis
testing and the baby was always fine. When
I went into labor, they could all stay with me in the birthing room until time
for delivery. At that time, I wanted
only my husband with me. He was able to
stay during the delivery and actually cut the umbilical cord as the doctor instructed
him. I actually had an easy delivery. This
was a wonderful and joyful experience for us. We had
a healthy baby girl weighing in at 8 pounds and 22 inches long. The day we were
to go home, I developed postpartum preeclampsia. I was very sick, but
fortunately, I was taken care of with appropriate medical care and no lasting
harm was done to my health or the health of my baby girl. She is still healthy
and will graduate high school this year with honors. She has been accepted into
Columbus State and is majoring in nursing with a minor in psychology.
In Africa, many women do not have a
good outcome as I did. One in 22 women dies
during pregnancy or childbirth (Guardian News, 2012). Conditions such as high blood pressure,
breech births, and hemorrhaging are easily treated in developed countries;
African women often die from them because they lack access to good quality
health care or a trained midwife. Many
women in Africa especially in remote areas have little choice in giving birth
to their babies at home with their mother or grandmother at their side. They are fortunate if the birth goes smoothly
without complications. However, if
things go wrong, the nearest help can be hours away. With no transportation, their only option is
to walk to get help; often this happens in the middle of labor. Three delays are usually referenced as
increasing mortality rates (Guardian News, 2012):
·
Delay in pursuing care: women may
have to get permission from their husbands or the male head of the household; they
may not recognize the emergency; or they may fear going to a health care
facility.
·
Delay in arriving at a health care
facility: transportation may be unattainable, unaffordable, or simply take too
long.
·
Delay in receiving care once at the
health care facility: health centers may lack staff, equipment, or supplies; wealthy
patients or males may be seen first; or cost of care may be unaffordable.
This may offer an explanation, still
too many women and babies are dying in developing countries such as Africa during
pregnancy and childbirth from complications that are often preventable (Guardian
News, 2012).
My experience was very different from
what women go through in remote areas of Africa. I simply cannot imagine giving birth at home
without help from trained nurses and doctors and in a medical facility that is
clean, sterile, and medically equipped to handle problems. I certainly cannot imagine walking while in the
middle of labor to find help. With each
of my children, my husband drove me just a few miles to the hospital. My doctors and nurses prepared me as far as
what to expect, made sure I understood how to properly take care of my health,
and even how to take care of my baby after going home to ensure babies’ health. I cannot imagine experiencing preeclampsia/eclampsia
without medical care. Seizures and
possible stroke would most likely occur and I am sure it would be horrible and fatal.
I can easily see the importance of early
and ongoing prenatal care, delivering in a facility with trained medical
doctors and staff, and postpartum care. I
can also see how poverty can influence health from conception and throughout
life. The birthing experience cannot
only influence development, but can end life for the mother, or child, or both without the proper care.
About
800 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the
world every day (WHO, 2014). In 2013, 289,000 women died during pregnancy and
following pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly
all of these deaths happened in low-resource settings in developing countries,
and the majority could have been avoided. More than half of these deaths took place in
sub-Saharan Africa. The deaths were a result
of severe bleeding (mostly bleeding
after childbirth), infections (usually after childbirth), and high blood
pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia), complications from
delivery, and unsafe abortion (WHO, 2014).
While
care has increased in many parts of the world during the past decade, only 46%
of women in low-income countries such as sub-Saharan Africa benefit from
skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth. Just over a third of all pregnant women have
the recommended four antenatal care visits.
This means that millions of births are not assisted by a midwife, a doctor,
or a trained nurse, nor do they receive postpartum care. Reasons that prevent women from receiving or
seeking care during pregnancy and childbirth are poverty, distance, lack of information, inadequate services, and cultural practices (WHO, 2014). Maternal
health and child health are closely connected.
Additionally, 6.3 million children under the age of five died in 2013
worldwide.
A
similar number were stillborn. Leading causes of death in under-five
children are preterm birth complications, pneumonia, birth asphyxia, diarrhea,
and malaria. Malnutrition is connected
to about 45% of all child deaths. Children
in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 15 times more likely to die before the age
of five than children in developed regions.
More than half of these early child deaths are due to
conditions that could be prevented or treated with access to simple and
affordable interventions and health care (WHO,
2014).
