Study Finds More Mothers Now Able to Tell Their Children ‘I Brought You Into This World and I Can Take You Out!’
Good news reported by the BBC on maternal health care (MDG #5). It has been reported in the Lancet medical journal by University of Washington researchers that the number of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth has decreased from over 500,000 in 1980 to less than 350,000 in 2008 across the globe. This is great news for those who work in health and development, but especially for the women who will now be around to raise their children. The article gives no specific reasons why this change has occured other than a general campaign in the public health field focusing on the issue of maternal health. The article relayed that over half of the deaths in 2008 were in six countries: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the DRC. The next step needs to be comparative analysis of these six countries and then a look at each in contrast with other countries that may have similar political and economic climates, but which have fared better. I find a commonality explaining the poor performance of those six countries elusive. They are all developing countries, although some more successful than others. India I imagine is one of the greatest contributors to maternal mortality due to its relative size in population compared to the other five. The DRC’s instability and violence would lend to an extremely high percentage of maternal deaths contributing to such a big total, as would Afghanistan. I wouldn’t expect Nigeria on that list. Intersting article. Good news, but I still have a lot of questions. Lets find out what is working and what is transferable to create positive progress with those who lagging in meeting the 5th Millennium Development Goal.
