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The Risks of Maternity
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Pregnancy and birth are natural processes, and many women have healthy pregnancies and give birth to healthy babies. But certain complications (like severe anemia, very high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, convulsions, obstructed labor or hemorrhaging) can and often are fatal for mothers and babies. In developing countries, many factors make women and babies more susceptible to these complications. Chronic malnutrition and ill health, the prevalence of diseases (including malaria, measles, tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS) and too early, frequent and closely spaced pregnancies exact a heavy physical toll on women of child-bearing age.
Factors like low levels of education and literacy, widespread poverty, as well as the low status of women in many societies all make it less likely that they will seek out help and information and receive adequate care during pregnancy, delivery and the critical first hours and days after birth. In addition, infrastructure and health care systems in developing countries are often underdeveloped and overburdened, and care for women and newborns is often unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, or poor quality.
What can be done?
Almost every single one of these deaths and disabilities are preventable. These women and babies die not from incurable diseases but from causes that are easily identified and addressed with the proper attention and resources. There is widespread agreement among experts that (1) quality care during pregnancy and birth, (2) access to emergency care when problems arise during pregnancy and delivery, and (3) adequate reproductive health services can together radically reduce the number of deaths of mothers and babies. The health of women and their newborns are inextricably entwined and efforts at reducing maternal death, injury and disease also reduce illness in women, babies and children’s lives later on.
Read more about our work to support maternal health and wellbeing. |
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