Caring for mothers after delivery
When twenty years old housewife Jamila went into labour, her mother-in-law decided the most common mode of delivery in Bangladesh — home delivery. Her family members called a local Dai (traditional birth attendant) to deliver the second baby of Jamila. As her first child is a baby girl, everybody in that family became happy when she delivered a baby boy this time. Everyone drew their attention to the newborn baby. As Jamila's job was done and nobody actually took care of her. After delivery, Jamila was bleeding over a continued period. Jamila's eyes and face became pale and eventually she went into a shock due to loss of huge amount of blood. By the time, family members took her into a healthcare facility, when it was too late. This is a common scenario in Bangladesh that depicts the story of sacrificing most of our mothers. Thousands of women are unnecessary dying as a result of postpartum haemorrhage (bleeding from uterus following delivery) and suffer from various complications due to lack of knowledge and dependency on traditional birth attendants. Many women in Bangladesh, especially in rural part perceive that bleeding is a normal phenomena that occurs during and after every delivery. Some people even believe the superstition that contaminated blood produced during pregnancy goes out of the body through bleeding. It is nothing to worry about. In Bangladesh, about 7,300 women die needlessly every year as a result of the complication of pregnancy and childbirth. The major cause is bleeding that accounts 31 percent deaths. Other causes include eclampsia (a condition characterised by convulsion, high blood pressure and loss of protein through urine), unsafe abortion, obstructed labour etc. The vast majority of maternal mortality and morbidity is avoidable through timely use of obstetric care. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS 2007) mentioned that, only 21 percent of mothers receive postnatal care from a trained provider within six weeks after delivery when the care is extremely needed. Ignorance, illiteracy, low social value of women is contributing factors for developing haemorrhage. Besides, three delays — delay in deciding to seek medical care, delay in reaching a medical facility and delay in receiving care are responsible factors for high mortality. Most of these deaths from haemorrhage are preventable by simple care like uterine message after delivery and use of drug Oxytocin and Misoprostol. Increasing awareness to care for mothers after delivery, especially first 24 hours of delivery and prompt recognition of the condition and timely treatment can reduce these deaths significantly. About one woman dies every minute in this country. In most of the cases, mothers after delivery are unattended and care is often ignored. Let's work to increase awareness and let them enjoy the motherhood.
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