2004-5-9
This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English Development
Report.
Women trained to help with childbirth celebrated International
Day of the Midwife last week. The observance takes place each year
on May fifth. It is organized by the International Confederation of
Midwives. This group began in Belgium in nineteen-nineteen as the
International Midwives Union. Today, it has member organizations in
more than fifty countries.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than half a
million women each year die during pregnancy or childbirth. Blood
loss and infection are two of the major causes. Others include
diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. But many more women
suffer injuries in childbirth. An estimated fifteen-million women
each year are damaged so badly that they never fully recover.
Experts say many deaths could be avoided if more women gave birth
with skilled help. An estimated fifty-eight percent of women in
developing countries have a trained healthcare worker present during
birth.
Africa has the highest death rate for mothers. The British Royal
College of Midwives estimates that one woman dies for every sixteen
babies that survive birth in Africa. India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
also have high rates of maternal deaths.
The Royal College of Midwives has launched Safe Motherhood
projects around the world to expand health services for women. It
also raises money on the International Day of the Midwife to provide
transportation for midwives to reach those who need them. For
example, money is raised for cars for Sierra Leone, bicycles for
Kenya and Cambodia, and donkeys for midwives in Lebanon.
An American-based group called the
Afghan Relief Organization is launching a program in Afghanistan. It
says there are few trained women there to assist with childbirth.
The organization hopes to teach women to become midwives. They will
learn how to deliver babies in homes, even if there is no
electricity or modern medicine. The new midwives will also help
educate mothers about family planning, nutrition, childcare and
other health issues.
The Afghan Relief Organization says it plans to mainly train
women who live outside of Kabul. The Institute for War and Peace
Reporting says that in some areas of Afghanistan, more than sixty
percent of women die giving birth.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill
Moss. This is Robert Cohen.