Putting the health of mothers and children first

Poor access to health care services has contributed to Zimbabwe having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the African region

Health correspondent
Millions of women, newborns and children in the African Region are dying from preventable causes every year.

In Zimbabwe, about one-third of women deliver babies at home and an estimated 3 000 women die during childbirth.

These statistics were highlighted in an issue paper on maternal mortality from the United Nations in Zimbabwe.

Unattended home deliveries and poor access to health care services has contributed to Zimbabwe having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the African region.

Many women face an equal or greater risk of dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth than they did 15 years ago.

According to the World Health Organisation, a woman in sub-Saharan Africa faces a one in 16 risk of dying due to pregnancy or childbirth during her lifetime compared with one in 2 800 in developed countries.

Direct causes of maternal death include severe bleeding, infection, eclampsia, obstructed labour and unsafe abortion. Even if a mother and child survive, many experience unnecessary suffering, hardships and life-long disabilities.

A study in West Africa showed that for each maternal death, a further 30 women may suffer long-lasting disabilities due to a range of conditions, such as chronic anaemia, infertility and obstetric fistula.

In some parts of the African region, about one-third of pregnant women are adolescents. Adolescent mothers face a greater risk of death in pregnancy and childbirth than women aged 20 or over. Their babies are particularly vulnerable to premature birth, low birth weight, and risk dying in the first month of life.

According to the African Regional Health Report 2014, data confirms that newborns represent about 40 percent of children who die before their fifth birthday in the African region. The direct causes of newborn death include severe infections, the inability to breathe normally after birth, pre-term birth, tetanus and congenital anomalies.

For every newborn baby that dies, another 20 face illness or disability from conditions such as birth injury, infection and the complications of premature birth.

Zimbabwe is also seeing increasing numbers of women and children dying from indirect causes. Indirect causes include HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and anaemia.

These obstacles and challenges are the primary culprits for poor progress toward Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 and 5.

One key to success in the African context is boosting community involvement. Many people do not go to a health facility when they need care. Increasing the quality of care at health facilities alone would not reduce the maternal, newborn and child mortality rates significantly.

One way to do this is to deliver more services through community providers, for example by supporting community- based family planning services to improve utilisation of contraception.

Scaling up health systems is vital but will not be effective if many people — particularly girls and women — remain uneducated about their health. Lack of education and illiteracy are major challenges and can be overcome by taking a multi-sectoral approach that calls for investment in girls’ education as well as an improved public health infrastructure.

In order to put the health of mothers and children first, all stakeholders need to allocate additional advocacy, support and funds to this vital but neglected area of public health.

This story was produced by an agency reporter from the World Health Organisation. Follow the WHO Regional Office for Africa on Twitter @WHOAFRO.