My health topic that I have chosen to discuss for the final project is maternal death within Ethiopia. Maternal death refers to the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy (Mekonnen, Hailemariam, and Gebremariam 2016) Maternal death is a very upsetting topic and it happens to be common in many underdeveloped countries. This occurs from the lack of pre-natal care, regular check-ups during pregnancy, not being able to afford to go seek the correct help, and dangerous child-birth conditions.
Ethiopia has one of the world’s highest rates of maternal deaths in the world, in fact Ethiopian women have a one-in-52 chance of dying from childbirth-related causes each year (Abebe 2019). This is an important topic to me because I plan to study obstetrics and understanding why maternal death occurs in such high numbers in Ethiopia will provide a basis on what to focus on as I progress through my profession. I have done a lot of research this week about maternal death in Ethiopia and I discovered a few reasons of why maternal death occurs at such high numbers in Ethiopia.
Direct causes of maternal death in Ethiopia can result from and are not limited; “to obstetric complications due to interventions, omissions, incorrect treatment, or from a chain of events resulting from any of the above and include hemorrhage, obstructed labor, pregnancy-induced hypertension, puerperal sepsis, and unsafe abortion (Mekonnen, Hailemariam, and Gebremariam 2016). Most of these conditions can occur from the lack of maternal health that many pregnant women receive due to being an underdeveloped country. There have been efforts in the recent years to improve the overall health of women and most importantly focusing on maternal health.
Indirect causes of maternal death in Ethiopia are deaths that result from previously existing diseases or diseases that developed during pregnancy, that are aggravated by the physiological effects on pregnancy (Mekonnen, Hailemariam, and Gebremariam 2016). Pregnancy counseling for women is extremely scarce and very expensive. Due to these reasons, access to counseling can drive women to depressive states during pregnancy and can ultimately lead to their death during pregnancy or post pregnancy.
This topic is an important health issue from a cultural standpoint because women are the glue that holds many families together, and the risk of having children is too costly to families in fear that the mother will lose her life. Children also play a huge role in Ethiopian culture as many Ethiopian families work in agriculture. With that being said, children help their families on their farms which is extremely vital for the income of these families.
This topic is an important health issue from a public health standpoint, it is an important topic because it is important to have people working in these midwife careers and since there is a lack of research and practice in Ethiopia, it is important to raise awareness in this topic. Public health focuses on health improvement for everybody, and with the lack of resources and research in Ethiopia, it is important to bring awareness to maternal death. Hospitals are located in major urban cities, but 80% of the population live in rural area, many have limited access to hospitals and health clinics (Chiatti 2018). It is important to bring awareness to this topic in order to maintain public health policies.
Resources
Abebe, Adey. Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health. https://www.usaid.gov/ethiopia/global-health/maternal-and-child-health
Chiatti, B. D. (2019). Culture Care Beliefs and Practices of Ethiopian Immigrants. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 30(4), 340–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659618817589
Mekonnen, W., Hailemariam, D., Gebremariam, A. (2016). Causes of maternal death in Ethiopia between 1990 and 2016: systematic review with meta-analysis. Ethiopian Journal of health development, 32(4), 225.