The middle ages are still with us

Friday September 15, 2006

Twenty million women die or suffer severe disability during pregnancy and childbirth every year, a new report has found.
The findings, published by the charity SafeHands for Mothers, show that of the 500,000 to 600,000 women who die in childbirth each year 95% are from developing countries.
For every mother who dies, another 30 suffer chronic disability, such as renal failure, obstetric fistula or pancreatic problems.
SafeHands founder and executive director Nancy Durrell McKenna said the majority of complications during pregnancy and childbirth were easily preventable with education and access to basic medicines.
SafeHands, which trains health workers in southern Ethiopia to recognise potential problems during pregnancy, is calling for £3bn in investment from governments and private donors to help the UN reach its Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by 75% by 2015.
'Every minute one woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth from basic, easily preventable complications and 30 times this number are left with severe disabilities,' Ms Durrell McKenna said.
'While these women may be alive, their day to day lives are made almost impossible by their health problems.
'So, when a woman in these areas suffers complications, there has to be some provision of transport, some emergency funds to pay to get her to hospital.'
Of the 189 countries that had signed up to the UN Millennium Development Goals in 2000 most were yet to contribute financially to the target of improving maternal health, she said.
'If you sign up for something you have to be able to follow through.'
A spokeswoman for the Department for International Development (DIFD) said the British government had 'a clear commitment' to working towards the goal of reducing maternal mortality. 'Over the past three years, DFID has increased its bilateral spending on maternal and reproductive health by 41% to £243m,' she said.
'We are also one of the largest donors to UNFPA, which works to improve reproductive and maternal health.
'We know much more now than we did then about what needs to happen, and the sort of services women must be able to access to have safer pregnancies.'