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Kathmandu Friday March 08, 2002 Falgun 24, 2058.
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Nation braces for yet another
Women’s Day
By Pragya Ghimire
KATHMANDU, March 7 : The International Women’s
Day is being observed by organising various awareness programmes with a slogan of
"The Responsibility of Family and Husband to Reduce Maternal Death," here on
Friday (March 8). The programme will also be highlighted with other activities, including
street theatre performances to recognize, address and eliminate the social taboos and
practices that harm pregnant women and their children.
Despite numerous activities and frequent
five-star seminars on maternal health, the ratios on maternal death never seem to decrease
on hospital charts, but are,in fact, rising alarmingly due to time-ridden social stigmas
and the fundamental base of health education.
Saraswati Devkota, 20, of Syangja gave birth to
three-baby girls from the very young age. She got married at the tender age of 16 and gave
birth in a very short span of time.
Devkota says, "As my husband is the only
son of the family, he and all the other members of his family repeatedly forced me to give
birth to a baby boy. My mother-in-law even threatened me of her son’s remarriage if I
didn’t give birth and always insisted on my husband for the same. So, for the sake of
family happiness, I dared to take the risk".
With tears in her eyes, she further added, this
time also the responsibility of another female baby has been added and the chances of my
husband’s remarriage has increased.
Saraswati, the only bride in the family, says,
at the time of pregnancy she had to do all the household chores, look after the two
children, parents, cattle and even work in the field.
"When I gave birth to the first baby, they
didn’t allow me to stay in the house, I was shifted to the shed. There I experienced
a terrible pain and my hands and feet swelled due to the cold but none of the family
members helped me. Instead, they scolded me for trifle things and warned me not to play a
drama," she said.
Safe Motherhood (SM) is a global effort that
aims to reduce deaths and illness among women and infants, especially in developing
countries.
The National Safe Motherhood Policy of the
government has issued directives to give training to women health personnel, propagate and
improve mother health services across the country, provide family planning methods,
establish Emergency Obstetric Care in district hospitals with equipment necessitating
gynaecological purposes.
Minister for Health Sarat Singh Bhandari said,
the government has given top priority to Safe Motherhood (SM) after HIV/AIDS. The budget
has been increased for SM in order to conduct various activities related directly to
reducing Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).
"We are now thinking to provide quality
care and soon specialised doctors will be mobilized to give Emergency Obstetric Care (EMS)
to the needy which is the most important part to reduce the death of mothers at the time
of delivery."
The report shows that every day 12 women die at
the time of delivery, 62 percent (out of hundred) die within a week after delivery, and 10
percent during delivery time.Furthermore, 67 percent lose their lives while undergoing
delivery at home.
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the country
is estimated to be 539 per 1 hundred thousand which is the highest in the South Asia
Region.
Director of Thapathali Maternity Hospital, Dr.
Bimala Lakhey said, the maternal health index shows that the condition of pregnant women
and the baby is very thought- provoking. To improve these conditions, all concerned
organisations with initiatives of the government should implement actions like providing
advance SM through human rights, empowerment of women, economic and social investment in
SM immediately.
"The cases of abortion-related
complications are higher and reports of 57/58 shows that 1,507 patients are dying due to
unsafe abortions. The government should legalize abortions and also reduce MMR".
Senior gynaecologist Dr. Divyasowri Malla said,
"maternal mortality is higher in rural areas because villagers are unaware of basic
hygienic procedures and this culminates into high mortality risk for the mother and the
baby. A practical government initiative to train health personnel during delivery will
enhance efforts to reduce MMR, she added.
Chairman of Safe Motherhood Network Dr Arju Rana
Deuba said that integrated service for maternal health in general and community education
on safe motherhood in particular, should be given priority in curriculum and services for
adolescents.
"The essential services for SM should be
readily available through a network of community healthcare providers, clinics and
hospitals," she said.
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