One in 240 Jamaican Women die giving birth

Maternal mortality claims the life of one woman every minute of the day around the world. In Jamaica it means one in 240 women face a lifetime risk of dying from complications associated with childbirth. Many organisations and doctors believe these deaths can be avoided if maternal and newborn health issues were given more attention and funding. 

More than 1,500 world decision-makers and delegates from 75 countries convened last week in London for the ‘Women Deliver’ Conference. 
 

Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network on Sexual and Reproductive Health (JYAN-SRH) Coordinator, Andrew Francis represented Jamaica.

“Women in Jamaica are dying because our health services are unfriendly, … they are not properly equipped with the facilities and tools to provide quality healthcare, … health personnel are not well-trained to deal with their patients and people are unaware of the issues of maternal health,” said Andrew.

A release on the conference website shows that the top causes of maternal mortality each year are:

1.    Haemorrhage (uncontrolled bleeding) which claims the life of 125,000 women

2.    70,000 die from unsafe abortions

3.     Eclampsia (high blood pressure)

4.    Sepsis (infections caused by unsanitary conditions)

5.     Obstructed labour caused by chronic malnutrition.

According to Professor of Reproductive Health Epidemiology at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Affette McCaw-Binns who also attended the conference, maternal mortality statistics have not changed much in the last 20 years worldwide.

“Very little has changed since the ‘Safe Motherhood Initiative’ was launched 20 years ago. Jamaica’s maternal mortality ratio stood at 120 per 100,000 live births then, now it is 95 per 100,000,” opined Dr. McCaw-Binns.

Recent maternal mortality estimates by a joint UN Agency workshop ranked Jamaica 90 of the 192 UN member countries. In the Caribbean Jamaica is behind Barbados (44), Bahamas (52), Cuba (56), and Trinidad and Tobago (56). It is however, ahead of Dominican Republic (92), Guyana (116) and Haiti (132)*.

Dr. McCaw-Binns informed Go-Local Jamaica that she is unconcerned with the ranking.

“Our ranking is not my concern, I am more concerned that not much has changed statistically in the last 20 years,” she said.  “Some of this is due to the increasing contribution of lifestyle factors such as HIV/AIDS and obesity to women’s risk of dying during this period, more so than in the past, she further commented.According to the Professor of Reproductive Health, much more needs to be done to ensure fewer women in Jamaica die as a result of maternal problems and medical complications.  The death of a mother is a double tragedy as young children are denied the love and care of their single most important person in the world.

“We don’t have a problem of access to health care, so greater attention should be given to the quality of care for our mothers. Mothers need better education so they can recognize complications and seek appropriate care in a timely manner. We must also implement standard guidelines for treatment, so all health care personnel are providing high quality evidenced based care,” Dr. McCaw-Binns said.

Meanwhile the young advocate, Andrew believes that a more targeted approach needs to be taken to educate young adults from as soon as possible.

“We need compulsory life skills education for young people to ensure they make more informed choices about their sexuality. Health care providers also need to be trained to provide more youth friendly services,” he said.

*Country rank in brackets

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