Vanishing role of midwife proving fatal
Picture for representation. PHOTO: File
Around 5,200 women die during pregnancy in Punjab annually because of not availing the services of midwives in the rural areas and lack of family planning.
As per a report of the Population Council, an international non-governmental organisation, experts said 2,300 pregnant females could survive annually if family planning methods were followed. The report expressed concerns over the rapid increase in the population. Punjab's total population is 127.7 million and increasing annually at 2.53 per cent.
A fact sheet issued by the council shows that around 11,000 pregnant females pass away during a year in the country, of which 5,200 deaths are recorded in Punjab. About 3,000 pregnant females die annually in Sindh, 1,900 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 1,000 in Balochistan.
According to the experts of the Population Council, besides the lacks of health facilities, the top reason of the high fatality rate in Punjab is ignoring the role of midwives and not following the family planning methods.
The third major reason of deaths of pregnant women is their ignorance regarding their own health.
In many cases, the wish for more children and family pressure to give birth to boys is also a factor that ends up in deaths during pregnancy.
"The recent facts and figures in connection with the alarming ratio of death of pregnant females need the attention of the government and the responsible institutions as we have to do a lot to secure our females,” said Population Council Project Director Samiya Ali Shah.
She said the number of deaths in Punjab had also increased as a result of rising population with less health facilities for the people, especially in the remote districts and villages.
There was a time when the role of the midwife was very important in the society and she offered all health services at the village level to pregnant women, she said.
“But in recent years we ignored the midwives and sidelined them. As a result, pregnant females are losing their lives in the remote areas. It is the need of the time that the role of the midwife should be acknowledged as we have less resources. The midwives should be brought to the front line and they should be given importance at the government level,” the project director said.
She stressed that the private sector should also play an active role in the sector, especially private doctors should consider it their responsibility to make spread awareness among the women in the villages regarding family planning and their health.
The wish for more boys in the families also endangers women’s health in Punjab and the couples should understand the importance of family planning, she added.
The Population Council’s Senior Programmes Director Dr Ali Mir pointed out that the recent census had shown that Pakistan's population had increased at 2.55% annually. He said the huge increase in the population was a result of lack of access to family planning methods and awareness in this regard.
He said the government should consider the importance of private doctors and also midwives who could spread awareness about family planning at the village levels because of their access to homes in the rural areas.
Government should frame a strategy to cope with the population growth with targets to be achieved by actively engaging the midwives, he said.
“Awareness regarding family planning at the village level will also help stop the increasing deaths among pregnant women in the province,” Dr Mir added.
A former medical superintendent of a hospital, Dr Sabahat Habib, said while commenting on the report that there was no doubt that the ratio of deaths of pregnant women was increasing.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2023.