ISLAMABAD: Razia Bibi*, a 22-year-old resident of Mallot Sattian, was about to deliver her first child and was on her way to Rawalpindi. She died on the way.
Razia was facing complications that could not be addressed because of lack of basic health facilities for women in Mallot Sattian, a village in Tehsil Kotli Sattian, situated at a one-and-a-half hour drive from the capital.
Many women in the rural area of Mallot Sattian share one emotion after finding out they are pregnant: fear. With inadequate health facilities and a poor transportation system, miscarriages and stillbirths are common.
Sabeeha, a Lady Health Worker in Kotli Sattian, said there are no maternity centres available in the area and pregnant women had to travel to Rawalpindi or Islamabad for complications.
“Sometimes deliveries take place in the car while traveling,” she added.
“The Ministry of Health is not providing Lady Health Worker’s basic medicines. Also, their pay is a meager Rs3000 which is never given on time,” she said.
Fareeda Jabeen* had three miscarriages in two-and-a- half years because she kept carrying heavy buckets of water from the top of a nearby mountain.
Taking to the Express Tribune, Fareeda said she wanted to take bed rest during her pregnancies but her mother-in-law would say, “Water for the born is more important than resting for the unborn.”
Dr Faiza Alvi, medical officer in Gynaecology department in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, and Dr Kausar Anis, joint executive Director Polyclinic Hospital said nowadays a majority of pregnant women and infants die because of malnutrition.
“In a country where a pregnant woman cannot afford to have a glass of milk, an egg and fruits in her regular diet because of poverty and inflation, how can the government reduce the mother-infant mortality rate?” said Dr Anis.
Anaemia is a leading cause of mother-child death as because of poverty, inflation and a lack of awareness, mothers do not take food rich in iron and protein. The doctors said the hemoglobin count of majority of pregnant women who visit the hospital is too low, which is dangerous for both mother and child.
There is a dire need to create awareness about taking supplements such as Folic Acid and visiting the doctor for regular antenatal check-ups, they said. The failure to do so can also cause Eclampsia, a condition characterised by convulsions and coma during or immediately after pregnancy.
Dr Anis added that there are many pregnant women who want to come for antenatal check-ups to ensure a safe delivery, but they cannot afford the transportation expenditure.
Dr Alvi said unskilled attendants/midwives in the rural areas and use of unsterilised equipment during delivery is another major reason behind deaths.
The use of unsterilised equipment and mishandling during child birth causes infections in mother and baby, she added.
*Names have been changed upon request
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2010.
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