One of the things that stood out in the article titled The Rituals of American Hospital Birth by Robbie Davis-Floyd, is the introduction paragraph. He starts off with a question and this really got me thinking deeply about childbirth. He then answers the question in the follow sentence. He states, “No matter how long or short, how easy or hard their labors, the vast majority of American women are hooked up to an electronic fetal monitor and an IV, are encouraged to use pain-relieving drugs, receive an episiotomy, and are separated from their babies shortly after birth.” It just doesn’t matter in which conditions, these women they are in; they will be automatically placed under some types of medications.…
In the book, City of Thorns: nine lives in the world’s largest refugee camp, by Ben Rawlance, the stories of the lives of nine refugees present the struggles and frustrations of the tangled lives in a refugee camp with on-going conflict. There is a lot of different issues occurring throughout their experiences in the camps, some very horrific and life threatening to these individuals. Although the book focus more on the men in the camps, the experiences the women goes through demonstrate that there is a global health issue with maternal and child health care services. These experiences are shaped by the situation of being a refugee and living in a conflict zone and they outline the type of intervention they find most important and appealing.…
Improving maternal health is one of whose biggest key issues. The organization strives on saving every woman's life and instructing them to make the right decision. Most maternal death are preventable, as the health- care solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known. According to who,”All women need access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth”. It is particularly important that all birth are attended by skilled health professionals, as treatment can make the difference between life and death.…
This magazine article concerns the study of Helena Lee on baby boxes in Finland. For almost a decade, expecting mothers in Finland have been given a box full of clothes, hygiene products, sheets, a mattress, and toys by the state. Babies even sleep in these boxes. Finland does this so each newborn has an equal start in life. Lee states that if the mother does not want the box they will receive a cash grant instead.…
In 2006, 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births occurred within the first year of life, which is Health People’s current baseline for this objective. Based on a 10% improvement, the target is 6.0 infant deaths per…
Many factors can contribute to these mortality rates, which could include late prenatal care, increased poverty level, and lack of knowledge. Within my county, an extremely high percentage of mothers did not receive prenatal care during their first trimester of pregnancy. According to a study done by Hauck, Tanabe, and Moon (2011), the three leading causes of infant mortality are contributed to a short gestational age and low birth weight, congenital malformations, and maternal complications related to pregnancy. African-American women are twice as likely to deliver premature infants, increasing the risk of infant deaths due to low birth rate. Another study also confirmed that African-American women had the highest level among all ethnic groups for delivering a preterm infant with increased mortality (MacDorman & Mathews, 2011).…
Due to women being malnourished, both the woman and child were in a vulnerable state during birth, which led to a higher fatality rate. The uncertainty of living after birth led many women, and families, to fear for the outcome. To relieve stress and stay hopeful, they used common practices that were believed to help the mother and child have a better end…
A critical element to success in the maternal health program in Haiti is that they do not charge women the fee that the clinic charges to get care. Without this fee women can get the care they need for them and their baby. In Egypt a critical element to success is that the Tuk Tuk midwife nurse travels, so it breaks down barriers with having to cross the river to have a medical professional 's help. She would focus on the patient 's health closely and their nutrition, so the mothers would have care before the births to help the baby’s growth. The midwife also leaves her phone number with the patients in case they have any issues after the birth they can contact…
Maternal Mortality has been on a steady decline in developed countries such as the United States. However, in the under-developed areas maternal mortality rates have remained unusually high. The alarming issue is not a new and emerging topic, however with over half a million women dying each year due to pregnancy complications the issue has become one of great prominence (Hunt & Bueno de Mesquita, 2014). In order to improve the issues changes must be made at the economical, social, political, and cultural level. Thus, the reduction in maternal mortality requires promotion and intervention.…
A large issue in Afghanistan is infant mortality, having the highest ratio in this world. With a ratio of 115.08 deaths per 1000 live births (“Infant Mortality Rate”). Infant Mortality is mostly due to prematurity, with 34 percent of the infant deaths. Along with Intrapartum-related complications, being the second highest cause of infant deaths (“Afghanistan: World Health…
Life expectancy has been increasing in the past years in most countries, in some more than others. In most countries, especially the Least Developed ones, the relationship between maternal health and life expectancy has not been made clear and is not understood by the population. It is important that this is made clear in all countries as taking good care of a pregnancy is the first step for the mothers healthy life as well as the baby’s, which will be affected forever by what the mother has done before the baby was born. Global perspective: “Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.…
Due to the lack of health care and limited resources, such as accessibility to local clinics or regional hospitals, this can make pregnancy and any other medical conditions hard to maintain. In Ethiopia, many women prefer giving birth at home due to their customs or beliefs and they are surrounded by trusted family and friends ("Ethiopia: too many deaths in childbirth as women opt out of…
However, In Nigeria for every 1000 live births, an average of 72 dies (CIA, 2013-2014). The statistical numbers are not comparable at all and it is sad that in one part of the world there is relative assurance that your baby would be delivered safe and sound while in another part of the world even the pregnant woman doesn’t think she would come back safe and alive not to talk of the baby. Children mortality is high in countries like Nigeria. The question is why is that so? The poor health care system, high vulnerability to certain illnesses, malnutrition, starvation and a lot…
offered as a separate service in separate facilities was advocated; and the need for reproductive health services specifically designed for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) was recognized. Overall, it called for a fundamental rethink of health service provision (Sen, 1994; Bongaarts, 1994; Hartmann, 1987) As reported by Pearce (2001), the international population establishment became more interested in Africa’s population growth rates after the 1960s, and significantly increased pressure for fertility control in the 1970s, Nigeria and other countries resisted advice on policy development until the mid-1980s. As further pointed out by Pearce, changes in population policies came after the economic recession, which began in the…
Under the third Sustainable Development Goal, the UN member states have restated their commitment to improving maternal health. However, in the advent of the current refugee and migrant crisis, issues arise regarding maternal health in this subpopulation. The target improvements in maternal health cannot be achieved if the maternal health of refugees and migrant women is neglected. Relocation of these women to areas with usually low mortality rates (developed countries) might cover up the adverse maternal health outcomes they are exposed to, due to disparities in access to health care. Hence particular attention should be placed on ensuring that the healthcare systems of receiving countries can respond adequately to the needs of refugees and migrant women.…