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Policy Document __ |
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Designed & Maintained
by SDNP Bangladesh
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MOTHER & CHILD HEALTH
The health of women is a
crucial factor in the health of children, but gender
discrimination leaves women particularly vulnerable to disease
and death.
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) declined from 440 per 100,000
childbirths in 1997 to 320 per 100,000 childbirths in 2001.
Translated into real numbers, this means that of 2.5 million
women who become pregnant each year, an estimated 370,000
develop fetal complications, which the health facilities in the
country are neither equipped nor able to handle. Increasing
access to emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is a key element in
reducing maternal mortality.
Only 8.6 per cent of births take place in hospitals or local
health centres and only 11.8 per cent of deliveries were
assisted in 2001 by doctors, midwives, nurses or family welfare
visitors. The remaining 88.2 per cent were attended by relatives
or other people, of whom only 11.9 per cent by trained
traditional birth attendants (TBAs).
The health seeking behaviour of women during pregnancy and
childbirth is low: only 48 per cent utilize antenatal care and
16 per cent postnatal care. There is also evidence of a
disparity in health seeking behaviour according to educational
and economic status. Poorer, less educated women are less likely
to seek qualified routine or emergency obstetric care. Only 40
per cent of women who perceived that they had life threatening
complications during their pregnancy sought immediate care – 70
per cent of women in the highest wealthy fifth of the population
and 50 per cent of those in the lowest fifth.
Maternal malnutrition, infections during pregnancy, anaemia and
repeated pregnancies contribute to low birth weight babies and a
high rate of maternal mortality. The maternal mortality rate is
among the highest outside sub-Saharan Africa, and the vast
majority of infants are born at home. The nutritional status of
women in Bangladesh is also alarming. The body mass index (BMI)
of 52 per cent of women of reproductive age is less than 18.5;
this means they are very underweight. They are also very
stunted. This has been compounded by a high prevalence of iron
deficiency anaemia (more than 50 per cent) and Vitamin A
deficiency (more than 2.8 per cent suffer from night blindness).
The poor nutritional status of female children at birth is
compounded by a lack of access to various services, resources
and opportunities associated with high workloads and lack of
rest. All this results in poor health, and low birth weight of
babies, who tend to go on to be more malnourished in childhood
and beyond. This vicious cycle has been repeated for centuries.
Reducing the rate of maternal deaths is not possible solely
through health and nutrition initiatives. Maternal mortality is
an indicator of the overall situation of women in a society, so
a more comprehensive social development approach is needed. This
means nurturing a socio-cultural movement that addresses the
reduction of maternal mortality as a woman's right and also
enhances women's self esteem and status.
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