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Sunday, November 7, 2010
Maternal & Child Health
12:59 PM |
The weak infrastructure can cause serious health problems, as it is very difficult for a pregnant women to get to the hospital without any transportation. If there is a kind of transportation, usually they can't afford it, and a mother who is going to deliver a baby, can't just walk to a hospital. Most, who can't reach hospital in time, and give birth to a child at home, or along the way to the hospital usually bleed to death.
Education of mothers plays important role for surviving also. Twenty-five years ago research in Nigeria showed that even very modest amounts of education for mothers improved their health and quite dramatically increased life expectancy for themselves and their children. (Caldwell. J. 1979)
Educated mothers know more about, and they are more aware of maternal health, they have better knowledge and information on modern medical treatment and on the other hand, they have better better financial resources, as they are more likely to have increased earnings or marry wealthier man (Shultz 1987)
Education can also decrease the making of babies at inappropriate age, which also take many lifes, because a 15-year-old body is not prepared for that.
Not only the mothers should be well educated but there is a lack of professionals in healthcare and also the educational level of the husband determines the chance for survival of the mother.
The number of unhealthy children and the rate of children who die before they reach the age of 5 years is also extremely high, and the reasons for that are the followings:
Most children die because of unadequate conditions of health care, e.g. they don't have the vaccines or they cannot afford it.
Another big problem is the malnutrition as the mother cannot feed the baby, because of the lack of the food or money for food.
Most of these deaths are preventable:
As we together can solve at least some of these problems, if we can reach the millenium goals, life of these people will definitely change, and it will tighten this huge gap between developing and developed countries.
As we saw education and medical circumstances are the most important roles both in maternal and child healthcare, that is why goverments should reconsider where to invest in, as a healthy society can flourish a country.
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5 comments:
Hi
one reoccurring similarity that i see that seem to run through in reducing maternal and child mortality is education.As said education will greatly improve maternal and child mortality.As you mention education of mothers play a very vital role because with education they can reduce their fertility and give birth to number of child that can be well looked after and they are financially capable of providing for their offspring . Both education for the man and the woman is necessary.
Also the availability of health care is very important and people who work in these establishment should be professional and well trained,a well trained staff will better understand how to help this mothers and their child consequently a reduction in maternal and child mortality
hey,
as Fon already said above, lack of education seems to be one of the main reasons behind poor maternal and child health care. Education gives these mothers (and their husbands) the chance to know about proper health care for themselves as well as their children. I think it is important to remember that also the husbands need to be educated, because often the man is the head of the household and makes decisions.
Another important factor is the general lack of health care facilities and professionals in rural areas. Obviously, if there is no health care available, then it cannot be offered either. And this is where governments play a part in addition to of course the economical situation in the country (which is often poor in developing countries). Governments need to provide the tools to build health care centers and train health care professionals.
Hi,
I found the same similarities as Fon and Miweka, education and one of the obstacles such as distance and access to the health facility. It was nice to have you here as well to join our conversation :)
Hi,
Lack of hospitals or difficulties to reach it and the fact that there isn´t health care professionals were mentioned on my post as well. Conserning children, same thing unadequate health care and malnutrition are one of the main reasons for child mortality.
Hi and thanks for the interesting text and videos! You explained well the importance of education, for mothers, children as well as health care professionals. This is, indeed, one of the most important factors in promoting the well-being of all the people in developing countries. By educated health care professionals many of the physical problems occuring during pregnancy, labor or the first years of the children could be prevented. Educating ordinary people could besides helping in making the everyday life of people healthier, also have more long-lasting effects, if for example the value of smaller families and contraception would gain more foothold in societies. You also mentioned that the governments should make the choice of investing in education and health care. I totally agree.
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