Maternal mortality(MM)-the death of a woman during pregnancy,
childbirth, or in the first 42 days after delivery-is often a
preventable tragedy and comprehensive efforts to save the lives of
both mothers and their children must be a priority of governments.
Increased intervention and efforts to bolster maternal health have
proven successful over the last two decades. According to a 2012
United Nations report Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010,
the number of global maternal deaths has dropped in half from
543,000 to 287,000.
Life-affirming programs that provide safe passage for both mothers
and their children during the critical time of childbirth have saved
lives.
Complications from childbirth such as severe bleeding— the
number one cause of maternal death—need to be treated and prevented.
Assisted childbirth is essential as skilled birth attendants
recognize obstetric emergencies and provide active management of the
third stage of labor to prevent and treat hemorrhage. Mothers are
saved when they receive clean blood for transfusions and antibiotics
to treat infection and when they give birth in safe, sanitary
birthing conditions.
Mothers survive when they receive treatment for indirect causes of
maternal deaths including malaria, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, anemia,
malaria, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, epilepsy, and
diabetes. The lives of mothers and children are saved when women of
child bearing age have access to health care and nutrition before
and during pregnancy and in the postpartum period.
Tragically, three million newborns around the world died during
their first 28 days of life in 2012. Health policies that
parliamentarians enact and government officials promulgate need to
affirm dignity and respect for the lives of both mothers and unborn
children to achieve MDG 4, reduction in child mortality along with
MDG 5, reduction in maternal mortality. At least two lives are at
risk in every pregnancy –more if the mother is carrying
multiples—and all have an inherent right to life and human dignity.
Progress to reduce maternal mortality has been delayed and plagued
by a radical pro-abortion agenda that seeks to inject the violence
of abortion into programs and services designed to save women’s
lives using the false argument that legal abortion reduces maternal
mortality. Maternal health is increasingly encased in the concept of
"reproductive health" which has been defined by abortion activists
as including access to abortion; a definition which many countries
reject.
The mantra of "safe abortion" is the ultimate oxymoron. All
abortion—legal or illegal—is unsafe for children and has hurt women
physically, psychologically, and spiritually. A study by the Chilean
Maternal Mortality Research Initiative (CMMRI), conducted by a wide
range of researchers, found that access to legal abortion does not
reduce maternal deaths but rather women’s access to education and
maternal health care services are key factors in reducing maternal
death. This analysis of Chile’s well-documented MM statistics
provided researchers with a unique look into a range of factors,
including abortion policy changes, affecting maternal mortality over
a period of fifty years. Since prohibiting abortion in 1989, Chile
has seen a decline in its rate of maternal deaths from 41.3 to 12.7
per 100,000 live births. Chile with a complete ban on abortion has
the lowest rate of maternal
mortality in all of Latin America and the Caribbean.
PNCI believes that maternal mortality will continue to be reduced
when women are provided with life-affirming health care and
nutrition and when governments affirm, assist and protect women in
their universally valued role as mothers, the bearers of a country’s
greatest treasure - its children.
Links:
American Association of Pro
Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG)
http://www.aaplog.org/complications-of-induced-abortion/induced-abortion-and-maternal-mortality
Maternal mortality for 181 countries, 1980—2008: a
systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal
5
http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/publications/summaries/maternal-mortality-181-countries-1980-2008-systematic-analysis-progress-towar
Melisa Institute
http://www.melisainstitute.com/peer-reviewed-publications.html
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach
http://mccl-go.org/resources.htm
Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503631_eng.pdf
The maternal mortality myth in the context of legalized
abortion
http://www.aaplog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LNQ61-Maternal-Mortality-Review-7-17-13.pdf
Women's Education Level, Maternal Health Facilities,
Abortion Legislation and Maternal Deaths: A Natural Experiment in
Chile from 1957 to 2007
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0036613
|