Let's promote safe motherhood

by Dr Monique Rainford

As a child, I enjoyed old western movies. They were often set in a small rural town in the United States and prominent characters included the local sheriff and the family doctor, who went to people's homes for health emergencies.

I remember that some of those movies involved the birth of a child, and sometimes the mother did not make it through the delivery. The doctor would come out of the bedroom - where the delivery had taken place - and break the painful news to the family. The joy of new life would be overshadowed by the tragedy of the loss of the mother.

On October 19, 2011, the Ministry of Health, in conjunction with the Pan American Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund relaunched the Safe Motherhood Initiative at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital. Safe motherhood is the ability of a woman to undertake pregnancy and childbirth without harm to herself and child.

Maternal deaths

About 1,000 women die daily in pregnancy or childbirth worldwide, with the vast majority of these deaths occurring in developing countries. According to 2008 estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), an average of 85 women died for every 100,000 babies born. The rate in Jamaica is close to the average rate. This does not compare favourably with the rate in Canada, which was 12 for the same time period. Although there has been some improvement over the years, we can do better.

One component of the Safe Motherhood initiative is that women and their partners be educated so that better health decisions can be made. However, all women can play a part even if they are not pregnant or don't want to be pregnant. We can encourage our pregnant sisters, friends, daughters, or mothers to have regular antenatal visits; to read about pregnancy; and advise them to seek medical guidance if something appears out of the norm.

Hypertensive disorders

Leading causes of maternal deaths in Jamaican women include hypertensive disorders - eg. pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, hypertension- haemorrhage, and thromboembolism. While some of these causes may not have any warning signs or symptoms, others may, and it is not only important for pregnant women and/or their families to acquaint themselves with these signs, but it is also important that they seek medical attention in a timely manner if any signs or symptoms occur.

Over the years, I have seen many obstetric emergencies. Things went best when the team worked well. The team was not only the medical professionals but sometimes included the patients, their spouses, and/or other family and friends.

Christmas is approaching, and as we celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus who came to Earth from a safe delivery via a teenage mother, let us remember that for any of us to be here, we needed our mothers. Let's join the team to save our mothers.

Dr Monique Rainford is a consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.