I have been meaning to speak on this topic. It really hurts me when I think about it "Maternity death". The word ‘maternal’ is related or connected with being a mother. The word ‘maternity’ is the state of being or becoming a mother. It is related to pregnancy and birth. Maternity death is one of the major problems faced by mothers in the society and it is a issue in the healthcare sector of the society which has led to the increase in death women in the society. Maternity death can also called be maternal mortality, it is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravate by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incident causes”.
Maternal mortality refers to the rate of women who lose their life during pregnancy or while giving birth. These days, the indicator and level of maternal mortality in any country is significant. The quality and level of organization of modern obstetrical institution's work are used to determine this rate.
Maternity death is unacceptably a high phenomenon which has causes a lot of death rate in the society at large. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), everyday approximately 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth complications around the world.
Over 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing and undeveloped countries. Maternal death is higher in women living in rural areas and among poorer communities where traditional science and technology still exist. Many young adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than other women.
Almost all of these deaths occurred in low-resource settings and most of these deaths could have been prevented. It has been recorded that between 1990 and 2017, maternity death worldwide dropped by about 42% due to the shift from traditional science and technology to modern and well improved science and technology in world at large.
CAUSES OF MATERNITY DEATH
There are many causes of maternity death that have led to the many women in world especially in developing countries which are majorly in Africa and these causes are either direct or indirect causes of maternity death. The causes of maternity death are; unsafe abortion, hypertensive diseases, obstetric and postpartum hemorrhage, pregnancy-relation infection, prolonged and obstructed labour-clinic, anaemia, incontinence, sexual transmitted diseases, diabetes, substance abuse, malaria, heart disease, and so on. Some of these causes will be illustrated below:
UNSAFE ABORTION
This is a direct major cause of maternal death. According to the World Health Organisation in 2009, every eight minutes a woman died from complications arising from unsafe abortions. Many young adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of unsafe abortion. This shows that many women die from unsafe or risky abortion of their infants.
HYPERTENSIVE DISORDER/DISEASES
This is also a direct cause of maternity death. Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy [HDP] and multisystem disorder will lead to woman pregnancy. Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy is commonly used to describe a broad spectrum of hypertension related diseases during pregnancy. These disorders can appear for the first time during pregnancy [preeclampsia, eclampsia, gestational hypertension, e.t.c. In other words, many women have died from high blood pressure during pregnancy.
HEMORRHAGE
This is another important cause of maternity death. This is a severe internal bleeding of the mother during the pregnancy and child birth. This is the escape of blood from the blood vessel. Pregnant women are prone to this illness as it can affect the baby and this will lead to the death of the mothers.
ANAEMIA
This is a major cause of maternal death. This is when a pregnant woman blood capacity to transport oxygen to the tissues is reduced; this can lead to maternal death. It is a contributory factor to maternal deaths caused by haemorrhage, septicaemia and eclampsia. Anaemia, caused by lack of iron is the commonest nutritional deficiency in the world.
THE EFFECTS OF MATERNITY DEATH:
The effects of maternity morbidity and maternal mortality and deaths can be seen in various sectors of life as it affects not only the children, family and household of the victims but also the communities and society surrounding the event. These potential effects include demographic effects, economic effects, health effects, psychological effects and social effects.
DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS
The main effect of maternity death is the death of innocent infants .This has also caused loss of deceased dissolutions, which leads to reconstitution of household. There is also the loss of deceased which increased number of one parents and orphans in the society
ECONOMIC EFFECTS
There will be increased labour force participation on the children .there is reduced productivity of ill adults and reallocation of land and labour. Medical costs are also reduced in the household. The economic burden of one parent to be will transferred to the society.
HEALTH EFFECTS
Maternity death has an effect on the children health through illness, injury, malnutrition and poor hygiene as a result of the absence of the mother. It has caused the reduction in allocation of labour on health maintaining activities which as caused an effect on the part of the household and society.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS
On the children and family, it has caused depression, grief of loved ones and other psychological problems. In the society, it has caused grief and loss of community cohesion.
SOCIAL EFFECTS
On the children it has caused social isolation, reduced education and parental supervision and care. On the family, social isolation and change in care for children, elderly, and disabled. On the society, it has caused changes in responsibilities for elderly and disabled.