Maternal deaths: contraception is key
CONTRACEPTION and dealing with teenage pregnancy will play a key role in the government’s ambitious plan to drastically reduce maternal deaths in the next two years.
South Africa’s maternal mortality rate is 119.1 per 100 000 live births.
This is a significant improvement from just five years ago when the rate was 144.9 per 100 000.
By 2018, the Department of Health wants the ratio to drop to below 100:100 000 — all the way down to the “sustainable development goal” target of 70 deaths of mothers per 100 000 babies born.
“To reach this target we need to strengthen access to contraceptives and family planning to ensure that all births are planned and wanted, as well as to decrease teen pregnancies,” the department’s Joe Maila told the Sunday Times.
Maila said that other measures being implemented included ensuring women got good antenatal care, that the number of mandated antenatal visits was increased from four to eight, and ensuring that “skilled staff was always available”.
He said that hypertension, HIV and haemorrhage were the three main causes of maternal death.
“We have retrained large numbers of doctors and nurses on the essential steps in the management of obstetric haemorrhage,” he said.
But challenges remain, among them the seemingly innocuous issue of transport infrastructure.
According to the “Struggle for Maternal Health” report by Amnesty International, women told the organisation that they “often travelled in unsafe and cramped conditions” to get to their health facilities and that roads were in poor — or even impassable — condition.
Costs of public transport, particularly in poor rural communities, were a factor.
A lack of ambulances was also cited.
“Without reliable, affordable and safe transport to health services, women and girls who need access to antenatal care and maternity units . . . are placed at unnecessary risk. It is of great concern that the problem persists and threatens the health and lives of women and girls during pregnancy and labour,” the report said.