How to avoid maternal deaths

A mother, by definition is a relation to a child, to whom she has given birth or takes care of through adoption. It is known that the warmth and comfort of a mother’s selfless love is unparalleled. But there are many unfortunate children whose mothers die while giving them birth. As per reports of W.H.O., more than 90 percent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Maternal mortality ratio i.e, number of maternal deaths per 100,000 child births, is one of the indices of the health status of any country. With advancement of medical sciences and techniques of contraception, ways of delivery being available, it is unfortunate that any woman should die during child birth. Maternal mortality is defined as death of a woman during pregnancy or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy; irrespective of the duration of pregnancy. It may be due to causes directly related to pregnancy and childbirth or its management. There may be causes other than pregnancy like an accident or heart attack. Hemorrhage during or after delivery remains a major cause of death of women during delivery. It occurs commonly due to an abnormally located placenta. Regular check up during pregnancy can help detect this problem early and timely measures can be taken to ensure a safe delivery. Infections causing sepsis during pregnancy or during delivery form a major cause of maternal deaths. A woman may develop a cough or fever, when pregnant and ignore it till the infection becomes advanced. She may die of sepsis. Many women are delivered at home by unskilled or semiskilled mid wives, who are ignorant about the necessary hygiene to be followed for conducting delivery. The result is tetanus and death. This can be prevented by taking vaccination against tetanus during pregnancy. Due to bleeding and infections, clandestine abortions also cause many deaths. Hypertension during pregnancy leads to eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition if not treated urgently. Very high or low blood glucose levels can cause metabolic complications and death. Conditions like cardiac failure and renal failure are aggravated during pregnancy and complicate pregnancy. They can also cause death during advanced pregnancy or delivery. Formation of a clot from amniotic fluid (fluid surrounding the baby) or from veins of the legs after delivery is an emergency which if untreated can be fatal. Sometimes the cascade of clotting can be disturbed during delivery, leading to massive uncontrolled hemorrhage and death. Not taking a pregnant woman regularly to antenatal clinics makes a pregnant woman miss the much needed surveillance during pregnancy. Thus many conditions like hypertension and diabetes which can be detected early and suitably managed are left unattended. Due to ignorance and poverty, a woman does not get enough rest and adequate nutrition which is needed during pregnancy thus making her sick and vulnerable to diseases. Due to ignorance regarding potential complications of pregnancy and child birth, family members do not make use of the facilities provided by the government at primary level. For them, the time spent in taking their pregnant wives to antenatal clinics can be used for doing some other work. Therefore there is need to sensitize people regarding good antenatal care. They should make use of facilities for regular check up and immunization of pregnant women. They should be counseled about nutritious diet so that in the available resources a pregnant lady can get necessary balanced food. Attention to personal and environmental hygiene is important and should be emphasized to avoid infections. Contraception and spacing between pregnancies is also very important to maintain good health of women, and avoid deaths during pregnancy and childbirth. This is because, multiple births make a woman more vulnerable to uterine rupture and other pregnancy related complications. Maternal mortality is not a question of merely one woman dying. It disrupts the family as a whole. If the baby survives, it lives the life of an orphan deprived of maternal love and care. Therefore people need to be sensitized about measures which can prevent deaths of pregnant mothers. The government has taken active measures that have greatly reduced maternal mortality. rachna212002@yahoo.co.uk