Call to act on maternal mortality

The BBC article, “Call to act on maternal mortality”, interested me because the global maternal mortality rate is the one important issue which was increasing especially in developing countries.

The article is about the health minister’s proposal from around the world at the UN Population Fund meeting in Addis Ababa to reduce the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth all over the world. Family planning was the most cost-effective way to solve the problem. The ministers also realized the important of primary and emergency healthcare to save their lives. Many countries have invested in training midwives, but most of them prefer to work abroad. They faced a problem of “brain drain” (2009, ¶ 8). However, At Hamlin College of midwives, in Ethiopia, solves this problem by selecting girls to receive a full scholarship for a further study and sets a conditional contract with them which indicates that they must go back and work in their own area after graduation.

I think that the major cause of maternal mortality is low quality of healthcare system especially in developing countries or rural areas due to inefficient equipments, insufficient of midwives and doctor and low technical skills. It is a good solution to increase more investment in primary and emergency healthcare. The government should allocate more money to improve healthcare system specifically supporting the education. Most midwives go to work abroad instead of working in their communities may be a result of their low salaries. Hence, the government should pay more attention to their occupation; for example, supporting their education and health insurance. The conditional grant is the great way to solve the brain drain problem, and it also have a beneficial impact to provide new opportunities to poor people.

References
Call to act on maternal mortality. (2009, October 26). BBC News. Retrieved October 27, 2009 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8327144.stm