Safe Motherhood & Child Survival: a Situation in Lower Income Group at Dhaka City
SAFE MOTHERHOOD AND CHILD SURVIVAL SITUATION IN DHAKA CITY
INTRODUCTION
Every minute, another woman dies in childbirth. Every minute the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well being of surviving children. For every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications. These range from chronic infections to disabling injuries (Such as Obstetric fistula). Maternal death and disability rates mirror the huge discrepancies that exist between the haves and the have-nots both within and between countries.
Safe Motherhood begins before conception with proper nutrition and a healthy life style and continues with appropriate prenatal care, the prevention of complications when possible, and the early and effective treatment of complications. The ideal result is a pregnancy at term, without unnecessary interventions, the delivery of a healthy infant, and a healthy post partum period in a positive environment that supports the physical and emotional needs of the woman, infant and family.
Working for the survival of mothers is a human rights imperative. It also has enormous socio-economic ramifications-and is a crucial international priority. Both the international conference on Population and Development and Millennium Development Goals call for a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015.
This three prolonged strategy is key to the accomplishment of the goal:
-All women have access to contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies.
-All pregnant women have access to skilled care at the time of birth.
-All those with complications have timely access to quality emergency obstetric care.
In countries such as China, Cuba, Egypt, Honduras, Jamaica, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Tunisia, significantly declines in maternal mortality have occurred as more women have gained access to family planning and skilled birth attendance with backup emergency obstetric care. Many of these countries have halved their
INTRODUCTION
Every minute, another woman dies in childbirth. Every minute the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well being of surviving children. For every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications. These range from chronic infections to disabling injuries (Such as Obstetric fistula). Maternal death and disability rates mirror the huge discrepancies that exist between the haves and the have-nots both within and between countries.
Safe Motherhood begins before conception with proper nutrition and a healthy life style and continues with appropriate prenatal care, the prevention of complications when possible, and the early and effective treatment of complications. The ideal result is a pregnancy at term, without unnecessary interventions, the delivery of a healthy infant, and a healthy post partum period in a positive environment that supports the physical and emotional needs of the woman, infant and family.
Working for the survival of mothers is a human rights imperative. It also has enormous socio-economic ramifications-and is a crucial international priority. Both the international conference on Population and Development and Millennium Development Goals call for a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015.
This three prolonged strategy is key to the accomplishment of the goal:
-All women have access to contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies.
-All pregnant women have access to skilled care at the time of birth.
-All those with complications have timely access to quality emergency obstetric care.
In countries such as China, Cuba, Egypt, Honduras, Jamaica, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Tunisia, significantly declines in maternal mortality have occurred as more women have gained access to family planning and skilled birth attendance with backup emergency obstetric care. Many of these countries have halved their