360,000 maternal deaths annually worldwide -UNICEF global databases 2010

Jul 10, 2011 News

…. more than three million deaths estimated to occur within the first month of life

By Rabindra Rooplall Jr
Insufficient maternal care during pregnancy and delivery is largely responsible for the staggering annual toll of 360,000 maternal deaths and the more than three million deaths estimated to occur within the first month of life. Indeed, roughly three quarters of all maternal deaths take place during delivery and in the immediate post-partum period, according to United Nations Children’s Fund – UNICEF.
The organisation said all women should have access to basic maternity care through a continuum of services offering quality antenatal care, clean and safe delivery, and post-natal care for mother and infant, with a functioning referral system linking the whole.
Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, stated that previously, Guyana’s Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) was 320 per 100,000. Based on that Goal, for 2015 the goal is under 100. In 2008, it dropped to 89, achieving the 2015 goal. Also in 2009, Guyana maintained the 2015 goal but the rate increased to 98 per 100,000.
“In 2010 it was 138 but the exact figures have not yet been verified. Remember we need to go through every death certificate in Guyana to make sure we missed no one,” Dr. Ramsammy confirmed.
UNICEF noted that the two most critical interventions for safe motherhood are to ensure care during delivery by skilled health personnel and refer the mother for emergency care as needed.
The personnel – a doctor, nurse or midwife – should be capable of handling normal deliveries safely and be able to recognize the onset of complications beyond their capacity and to refer the mother for emergency care as needed.
Traditional birth attendants, whether trained or untrained, can neither predict nor cope with serious complications. Adding that quality of care provided by health personnel is crucial, UNICEF stated that this is particularly needed when there are complications, skilled personnel need access to essential drugs, supplies, equipment and emergency obstetric care.
“They should receive training on required competencies and they need supervision that helps ensure high standards of care. This is vitally important.”
There are substantial disparities in delivery care. In developing countries, just 50 per cent of births in rural areas are attended by skilled health personnel compared with 82 per cent in urban areas.
Large disparities are prevalent across household wealth quintiles in developing countries. Women in the wealthiest households (84 per cent) are almost three times as likely as women in the poorest households (30 per cent) to have a skilled birth attendant at delivery.
According to United Nations (UN) estimates, by 2050, more than 30 percent of the regional population will be over 60 years old, and if appropriate measures are not taken, population ageing will pose serious challenges to the already burdened health systems.
In a recent news report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) it was noted that Guyana is among 38 countries that could miss the fifth Millennium Development Goal target if it does not train more midwives.
The report said that 38 of 58 countries surveyed during the study could miss their MDG target to achieve 95 per cent coverage of births by skilled attendants by 2015 without a total of 112,000 more midwives. Globally, 350,000 midwives are still lacking.
The study also revealed that up to 3.6 million deaths could be avoided each year in 58 developing countries, which together account for just under 60 per cent of all births worldwide but 91 per cent of all maternal deaths, if midwifery services are upgraded by 2015.

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360,000 maternal deaths annually worldwide -UNICEF global databases 2010

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