Assignment 1: - MJoTA



Sejal Mody

MiMW1 Topic1 Assignment1

8th June 2010

Write an article describing what can be done to improve maternal mortality. What would you do to increase the chances of women surviving childbirth in Sierra Leone? Include the reasons for high mortality in Sierra Leone. What rhetorical techniques can you learn from Aristotle that will be effective in convincing a philanthropic organization that their resources could be better used combating maternal mortality?

In this day and age of scientific advances and technological innovations, the idea of pregnancy being a life threatening condition is unimaginable. In many parts of the developing and under-developed world, however, the situation is remarkably different. In countries such as Sierra Leone, for example, the notion that a woman may not live beyond her pregnancy does not raise an eyebrow, and for many women, is purely a fact of life.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 529,000 women die from giving birth each year, 90% of whom reside in an under-developed or developing country [1]. That is at least one woman every minute! At 2,100 deaths per 100,000 live births, Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates [2]; a fact that is both tragic and senseless, considering that with the proper services and care, these deaths could be absolutely preventable.

Despite its rich natural resources, Sierra Leone is marked by widespread poverty and political instability. The country was engaged in a brutal civil war for over a decade (1991-2002), which killed over 50,000 people, maimed countless others, and displaced an estimated 2 million more [3]. The conflict further destroyed much of the infrastructure of the country and eliminated livelihoods overnight.

Eight years later, Sierra Leone is still struggling to reconstruct and recover amid the violence and corruption. Progress has been slow, and social, economic and physical infrastructures remain inadequate. There is poor economic development and widespread unemployment, while health care and education systems fail to deliver. Poverty is widespread in both urban and rural areas. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 26% of the population cannot afford basic food, while 70% live in poverty and have insufficient food, poor housing, poor health, high illiteracy, and limited access to electricity and clean water [4]. With an average life expectancy of 48 years [5], life is hard in Sierra Leone.

Women, in particular, do not fare very well in Sierra Leone. In addition to having the world’s highest maternal and infant mortality rates, the country has one of the lowest female literacy rates [6]. According to Save the Children’s “2008 Mother’s Index rankings”, Sierra Leone further ranks as the fourth worst country in the world to be a mother, just slightly higher than Yemen, Chad and Niger [7].

Considering the grim conditions in Sierra Leone, it is hardly surprising that maternal death ranks highly. Maternal mortality is strongly correlated to poverty, both on an individual level and that of the country. A country’s poor infrastructure means that majority of the people have limited access to electricity, sanitation, nutrition, health care, and education. Poverty on an individual level ensures access to whatever resources that are available, is limited even further. Therefore, curbing maternal deaths requires significant improvements in many distinct areas including transportation, health care, medical training, nutrition, education, and sanitation.

One of the biggest factors driving up maternal mortality rates is the lack of accessible, affordable and quality health care. Hospitals are not easily accessible and in many cases unaffordable. As a result, many pregnant women do not receive the health care and services they require, and babies are delivered at home. Midwives generally assist in home deliveries, but poorer communities still rely on traditional birth attendants many of whom are untrained, illiterate, and ill-equipped to deal with any complications that arise during the pregnancy and/or the delivery. If complications do occur, there is a slim chance for the mother to receive the medical attention she needs.

The problem is further compounded by widespread female illiteracy, and the lack of health education and awareness on hygiene, nutrition and reproductive health. As medical services cost money, many women choose to disregard them during their pregnancies and do not seek out medical attention until it is too late, making them more vulnerable to life-threatening complications. Female illiteracy also leads to early pregnancy, and in Sierra Leone, an estimated 6% of all pregnancies are attributed to girls under the age of 18 [8]. Teenage pregnancies are especially susceptible to maternal deaths as the girls usually lack social support and do not have the emotional and physical maturity to deal with their pregnancies.

Maternal mortality requires immediate global attention. It can be prevented, and yet every day girls and women die due to insufficient or improper care, and surviving children are left motherless. The government of Sierra Leone is under pressure from international organizations such as Amnesty International to take responsibility and implement measures to prevent these senseless deaths [9]. But in a poor nation rife with corruption, resources rarely reach those who need it most, the women and children.

Rather, to combat maternal mortality, funding is desperately needed from international organizations to target the immediate needs of women, starting with education and raising awareness at the grassroots level. Empowering women through education gives women the power to control their health, and essentially, their fates, which in turn can reduce both maternal and child mortalities. Resources can also be put towards training medical workers, as well as establishing free basic medical services, to provide health care from pregnancy through to the birth of the child and the aftercare of the newborn. Since many women are unable to get to hospitals, outreach services can be established to enable health workers to reach pregnant women in rural areas who have limited or no access to medical services. In fact, there is much that can be done to provide immediate aid to stop maternal death. The decision is yours. Give these women and their unborn children a chance at life.

References:

1. World Health Organization

2. World Health Organization

3. Encyclopedia Britannica



4. United Nations Development Programme on poverty reduction

5. UNICEF

6. UN Human Development Report



7.

8. World Health Organization, Department of Making Pregnancy Safer, Country Profile

9. Maternal death rate in Sierra Leone is a "human rights emergency".



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