| |
Introduction
“
A maternal death is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant
or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause
related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.
| |
Reference:
Reduction of Maternal Mortality
A Joint WHO/UNFPA/ UNICEF/ World Bank Statement, WHO, 1999)
|
For
most women around the world, childbirth and motherhood are normal
and healthy experiences. However, for many mothers and newborns
it can also mean death or long term illness resulting from preventable
complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
It
has been estimated that every minute of the day, somewhere in
the world, one woman dies because of complications that arise
during pregnancy and childbirth. This results to almost 600,000
deaths annually. Of these, almost 90 percent deaths occur in developing
countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In Nepal
every year, 4, 500 women dies of pregnancy and childbirth related
complications i.e. 12 women per day or one every two hours.
In
Nepal, women’s health is not a priority within the family or even
to the women herself. Women do not see the need to seek health
care until their state becomes so serious that it interferes with
daily work. Pregnancy is viewed as a routine condition that requires
no change in habits or special care. 89% of the deliveries took
place at home, usually under septic conditions. Many women delivers
in fields far from their house and in some parts of the country,
many women are traditionally confined to the cowshed. Most of
the deliveries are attended by the family members or untrained
traditional birth attendants. Only 8% of the deliveries are attended
by the skilled birth attendants. Other barriers to women health
care include poverty, distance to service facilities, lack of
roads, lack of transport and lack of emergency services
By
early 1996, Ministry of Health (MOH) had already developed National
Safe Motherhood Policies, Plan and Guidelines, several IEC materials
were developed by the NGOs and INGOs and one of the local NGO
produced Clean Home Delivery Kits (CHDK) to be purchased by the
families at an affordable price. Despite all the accomplishments,
the MOH could not yet initiate the National Safe Motherhood Program
effectively. There was a lack of coordination between organizations
concerned with safe motherhood, and feelings of confusion and
frustration within the government and development communities
about how and where to get started.
On
March 8, 1996, government, several NGOs/INGOs and individuals
came together with the motive to empower people and organizations
to generate popular support and political will for the sustainable
social change on safe motherhood. On that day, a group of concerned
organizations quite literally “ took to the streets,” marching
along footpaths
and through villages across the country to launch the first safe
motherhood campaign, “Clean Delivery Day.” Women rallied, enacted
dramas, played games, organized contest, gave speeches, displayed
posters, handed out brochures, held discussions and demonstrated
the correct use of simple live saving Clean Home Delivery Kit.
The event organizer developed standardized messages about clean
delivery, developed and distributed IEC materials, along with
an activity guide to promote effective use of creative communication
strategies such as street dramas, puppet shows, contests, exhibition
and demonstrations. This first event involved a coalition of 26
organizations (government, INGOs, NGOs) and 75, 000 participants,
reached 41 out of 75 districts, at $ 4,000 only.
This
mass campaign garnered media attention and build trust and appreciation
among the organizers to form the Nepal Safe Motherhood Network
at the family and community level through national grass roots
level campaign.
Since
its inception in 1996, the Safe Motherhood Network (SMN) has been
in the forefront of Nepal’s efforts to change the outcomes for
mothers and newborns. It offers a pioneering model of how a multi-sectoral
alliance of organizations and individuals can work together to
effect change on safe motherhood issues at multiple levels.
|
|