Pakistan: Pregnancy-related complications causing unnecessary deaths
| Publisher | IRIN |
| Publication Date | 26 March 2009 |
| Cite as | IRIN, Pakistan: Pregnancy-related complications causing unnecessary deaths, 26 March 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/49db06981e.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
KARACHI, 26 March 2009 (IRIN) - Some 30,000 women in Pakistan die every year due to pregnancy-related complications, according to a new report.
The Health of Women in Pakistan, an annual report by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan (SOGP), says three women an hour die due to pregnancy-related complications. Pakistan's maternal mortality rate is 340 per 100,000 pregnancies.
SOGP President Sher Shah said 375,000 women had pregnancy-related complications every year. "Vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF), recto-vaginal fistula (RVF), depression, chronic pelvic pain, malfunctioning of the uterus, infertility and pelvic inflammatory diseases are the major complications faced by our women, making their lives miserable. However, all these conditions are preventable," said Shah at the launch of the report.
He blamed the government for not giving sufficient priority to the issue and called for a change in public attitudes.
The SOGP report said haemorrhage, hypertension and infection were the three main causes of maternal mortality, and delayed treatment of emergencies was a major contributory factor.
Women in rural areas are particularly at risk, according to health workers. Over 75,000 villages are not linked to an asphalt road, and hence have limited access to centres where emergency obstetric care is available. Most Basic Health Units and Rural Health Centres are not functioning, the report said.
"More than 80 percent of women deliver their babies at home with [the help of] traditional birth assistants (TBA) who are mostly unskilled and unaware of the human anatomy. In most secondary and tertiary healthcare centres, emergency obstetric care is not available 24 hours a day," said Nighat Shah.
Cement
In Benaras, a Pathan/Pushtoon settlement in Karachi, women still rely on the services of TBAs.
Kulsoom had seven children delivered by a TBA but things did not seem right at the birth of her eighth. "I was bleeding badly and she filled me with some mixture, telling me that the vaginal bleeding will stop soon. However, I had this burning sensation and begged my husband to take me to the hospital and it was there that I found out that she had put cement inside me," said Kulsoom.
She said the horrified doctors initially thought she had tried to induce an abortion. Despite this experience, Kulsoom is still dependent on TBAs as the men in her family do not approve of their women seeing doctors in hospitals, for cultural reasons.
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