attendant entreated Ahila’s husband to take her to the hospital, whereupon Ahila looked up pleadingly and told them she was afraid she would not make it. She died a few moments later.”
— Source: Dr. Shehlina Ahmed, Health Advisor, PLAN International Bangladesh Pregnancy and childbirth are hard on the body. For any woman, the chances of serious injury, illness or even death increases exponentially after the birth of her third child. This is because frequent pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding deplete women’s physical resources and stamina, making it more difficult for them to fight the effects of blood loss, infection or trauma during or after childbirth. WHO maintains that women who have given birth to five or more children are two to three times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than those who have been able to limit their families to two or three children.
18
WOMEN WHO ARE ALREADY
ILL
Another primary indicator of maternal mortality is poor health on the part of the mother. Malaria, tuberculosis, iron-deficient anemia and the ever-widening threat posed by HIV/AIDS are just a few of the conditions that predispose mothers to problems during pregnancy and birth. According to medical experts, women who are HIV-positive during pregnancy are more likely to suffer severe antenatal and postnatal complications with a higher mortality rate from puerperal sepsis and other complications. In Africa today, women make up more than half of those newly infected with HIV. 19
There is little indication that these numbers will decline anytime soon.
20
Although female-controlled methods of preventing infection are now available, their cost is prohibitive and their use still involves negotiation with a male partner. Vaginal microbicides – gels or creams that kill the virus on contact – are still in the development phase and have not been approved for widespread use.
18
WHO, Unsafe Abortion, 1997, p. 3.
19
JE Wiebenga, Maternal Mortality at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi Medical Journal, 1989-1990.
20
UNAIDS, 2001.
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©Liba Taylor/Panos Pictures
Already ill: Women in a Salvation Army hospital, which treats many HIV and AIDS patients, Chikankata, Zambia.