Most births take place at home where excessive bleeding can be stopped with the affordable tablet. PHOTO: FILE
One small white tablet that could prevent women from dying of excessive bleeding after giving birth should be used more to save lives in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, experts have urged.
Misoprostol, which has been used in the West for ulcers, has been found to help with post-partum haemorrhage or bleeding after a woman gives birth as it makes the uterus contract. In addition to being cheap, it can be popped like a tablet – a godsend for villages and other places where no one is available or qualified to administer an injection.
“More than 80% of deliveries occur at home in the rural communities and 70% of these are being conducted by unskilled birth attendants in the country,” said Dr Hafeezullah Khattak at the second meeting of the Maternal Neonatal Health Steering Committee of KP on Saturday.
In KP, 275 women out of 100,000 die annually from such complications, according to Dr Khattak, who presented figures from the demographic and household survey of 2006-07 and a survey of Fata in 2009. The figures of Pakistan’s maternal mortality rate are highest for Balochistan at 785, followed by Fata’s 380, 314 in Sindh, 227 in Punjab and 201 in Azad Jammu Kashmir out of 100,000 per annum.
The event was organised by a non-government organisation Khwendo Kor at the Directorate General of Health Services. It was supported by the Mercy Corps and Research and Advocacy Fund.
“One mother dies every 20 minutes, which indicates that three mothers die every hour, while globally 350,000 mothers annually bear the burden of maternal illness and disability,” said Dr Ameen Khan. “The postpartum period is the most vulnerable time for a mother, yet neither health programmes nor mothers and families recognise this.”
Pakistan ranks third highest in the world for the maternal mortality rate with an estimated 276 out of 100,000, falling behind India and Nigeria.
There are many reasons behind the deaths of women during childbirth but severe bleeding after delivery is the major cause. Highlighting the importance of using Misoprostol for delivery during childbirth, UNICEF’s Dr Kamran Khan said it was a suitable solution that has been recommended by the World Health Organisation. Health Services Director-General Dr Sharif Ahmad told the participants that Misoprostol is indeed on the provincial essential drugs list.
Other speakers included Nazra Saeed and Waliur Rahman of Khwendo Kor, Dr Dil Nawaz and Dr Iqbal.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2012.
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