Focusing on the fifth Millennium Development Goal

  What I Knew (Reflection 1)  Bleeding to Death (Neg. impact of antenatal care)  Transportation Problems  Mothers and Fistulas  HIV Infected Mothers  Hospital Personnel Issues  What I Know Now (Reflection 2)  Works Cited Table of Contents

  Actually, I should title this “What I Don’t Know”. Though I know much about the struggles that my ancestors encountered with maternal health, I know very little about the bigger picture. I am well aware of the amount of women who are not given proper nourishment while pregnant. It is sad to think that many women do not have access to sanitation or professional health services when giving birth, and that these women should have to die trying to bring life to the world. This is why I chose this topic. What I knew…

 Bleeding to Death  We have attempted to increase the amount of antenatal care in countries with poor maternal health; this has had somewhat of an adverse effect, increasing the amount of out-of-hospital births. Though this chart looks promising, the decline is not sufficient to meet our MDG. According to the World Health Statistics 2012

 Transportation Problems  Specifically in Africa, one of the main reasons why most women do not deliver in a hospital is the transportation. Many cannot afford to be transported there, let alone pay for the services when they arrive. Hamlin Fistula International

 Mothers and Fistulas  Particularly in Africa, there is an issue with women experiencing difficulties in child birth, oftentimes creating fistulas (often killing the baby). These women are isolated because of their inability to keep up with their hygiene. Many complete suicide. Some hope: humanitarian efforts are creating fistula clinics in these low-income countries. From “Time to Save Women’s Lives”

 HIV Infected Mothers  In many cases, women do not have enough money to support their family, so they turn prostitution. This often results in HIV infection. When pregnant, the virus can also transfer to the child. Humanitarian efforts have kits with ARV drugs that decrease the risk of HIV transmission from mother to baby. Untreated, according to AVERT.OrgAVERT.Org

 Personnel  If the mother somehow finds the funds to get to a hospital to deliver her baby, the facility may not even be capable of taking care of her, due to lack of sufficient personnel. 77% of clinics in Ghana could not provide 24 h. emergency care, and 72% could not provide the full range of expected services. According to "The Challenge of Global Health." Foreign Affairs

  Once again, there is so much that I do not know, and I am quite aware of that fact. The more I learn on this subject, the more I come to realize that without experiencing and seeing this crisis first hand, I cannot fully understand this topic. I know that fistulas, obstructed labor, and disease are some of the main reasons for maternal morbidity and mortality. I know that though our attempts at helping those in countries with this issue have had an impact, we are not helping enough. We need more clinics, more education, and more safety to be implemented in those areas. Most of all, we need more donors; of time and money to complete the Millennium Development Goal. What I know Now…

  Coeytaux, F., Taylor-McGhee, B., & May, E. T. (2010). Time to Save Women's Lives. Ms., 36.  Garrett, L. (2007). The Challenge of Global Health. FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 14+.  Hamlin Fistula International. (2009). Fistula Fast Facts. Retrieved from Hamlin Fistula International: facts-and-faqs.htmlhttp:// facts-and-faqs.html  International Federation of Social Workers. (2012). World health statistics 2012 – maternal and child deaths down. health-statistics-2012-maternal-and-child-deaths-down/. health-statistics-2012-maternal-and-child-deaths-down  Khor, M. (1996). Bleeding To Death: Health Care In The Marketplace. The World Resergance, 7+.  Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2012). Half The Sky. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.  Wikipedia. (2012). Millenium Development Goals. Retrieved from Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia:  World Health Organization. (2012). World Health Statistics Switzerland: World Health Organization. Works Cited