WHY WE DO IT (Part 1 of 4 Series)

I wanted to address some of the really important issues surrounding Maternal Mortality - so this is part 1 of 4 series. Keep checking back to read the other posts that go along with this series. 

I came across an article on the WHO website. I thought I would re-iterate some of what the article said and also post a part of the article, as this is the reason WHY we do what we do. The question posted in the article was - WHY DO SO MANY WOMEN STILL DIE IN PREGNANCY OR CHILDBIRTH?

Every minute, at least one woman dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. What does that mean exactly? 

That means 529 000 women die each year. Okay, well what does THAT mean?  Well, lets bring it home. 

529, 000 women dying each year is like all of the city of Mesa, Arizona dying each year. Or Tampa, Florida or Long Beach, California and even Atlanta, Georgia. Each of these cities have around 500,000 people living in it. Yes. It's a staggering number. In addition, for every woman who dies in childbirth, around 20 more suffer in injury, infection or disease - approximately 10 million women each year. That is one-third of the country Canada's population.

Well what are the medical issues? Well here are the facts from the WHO:
Five direct complications account for more than 70% of maternal deaths: haemorrhage (25%), infection (15%), unsafe abortion (13%), eclampsia (very high blood pressure leading to seizures – 12%), and obstructed labour (8%). While these are the main causes of maternal death, unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, or poor quality care is fundamentally responsible. They are detrimental to social development and wellbeing, as some one million children are left motherless each year. These children are 10 times more likely to die within two years of their mothers' death.

THIS IS NOT JUST A WOMEN'S ISSUE. SHARE THE FACTS WITH THOSE AROUND YOU. You can read the rest of the article at http://www.who.int/features/qa/12/en/index.html

Cheers,

Eujean