Report: 300,000 Die Worldwide in 2013 Childbirths
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Almost 300,000 women, primarily in developing countries, died from
complications related to pregnancy and childbirth in 2013 according to
a new report that blames the deaths on a lack of safe water,
sanitation and adequate hygiene.
A paper published in the journal PLOS Medicine reports that some 38
percent of healthcare facilities in 54 developing countries continue
to lack proper sanitation and a source of clean water, putting women
who give birth there at increased risk of death.
The article, written by a team of researchers from organizations
including WaterAid, the World Health Organization, the London School
of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UNICEF and the United Nations
Population Fund, estimates that 289,000 would-be mothers died from
unsanitary conditions, either at home or in healthcare facilities.
Despite 15 years of concerted global efforts to reduce maternal
mortality, the report notes it remains 14 times higher in poor
countries than developed regions.
Women in unsanitary and unsafe conditions face a high risk of
life-threatening infections, according to Oliver Cumming, an
environmental health expert at the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine.
He says the risk increases if pregnant women must walk a long distance
to obtain clean water or to use a bathroom facility.
“These things produce a range of effects that we don’t necessarily
understand but very clearly would bring levels of stress – physical
and psychosocial stress – which would pose a risk for the mothers and
for the babies,” said Cumming.
A companion article in PLOS One describes conditions in Tanzania,
where less than one-third of births occur in places with safe water
and basic sanitation. Nearly 8,000 women in the East African country
die each year, either while giving birth or immediately afterwards.
The United Nations’ eight Millennium Development Goals — which include
improving maternal health and reducing child mortality — are winding
down next year. To follow up on progress toward the MDGs, world
leaders are working the the U.N. to come up with Sustainable
Development Goals, which are expected to be adopted in September 2015.
Cumming and his co-authors say providing clean water and sanitation
should be at the top of the list of improvements in homes and
healthcare facilities in developing countries. He adds that the new
goals need to specifically include improved water quality and
sanitation as a stand-alone aim with an eye toward improving maternal
and newborn health.
“I think it’s a terrible tragedy that women still die during
childbirth as a result of the absence of these very basic things being
in place, particularly within heath facilitities,” he said.
On December 15, nine leading health organizations spearheaded by the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are issuing a call to
action for governments around the world to focus on better water
quality, sanitation and hygiene.
The aim is to make greater progress toward improving maternal and
neonatal health.
Credit: Jessica Berman