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Uganda: Education of Girls Can Prevent Pregnancy Complications
– Reported, May 24, 2013
Annually, 16 million girls aged between 15 and 19 give birth. Ninety percent of the births in developing countries occur in single teens or adolescent marriages. Many of these women have been married off as children and lack the education, money and status to get adequate healthcare services.
Complications run rampant in adolescent pregnancies. Children having babies will face substantial risk from having small pelvises that can obstruct labour, resulting in prolonged labour, birth injuries and an increased risk of stillbirths.
In many countries, the risk of maternal death is twice as high for adolescent mothers. However, maternal mortality rates of any age are unacceptably high throughout the world. The increased risk of dying from childbirth is linked to the increased rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and inadequate prenatal care.
Every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Severe bleeding, infections, unsafe abortion and high blood pressure conditions are the main killers that cause 70% of the deaths.
The good news – the WHO reports that maternal mortality has been cut in half in some of the most difficult areas since 1990. This dramatic improvement is primarily related to improved access to healthcare services before, during and after childbirth.Continued advancement, education and policy development is needed to continue reducing the risk factors associated with maternal deaths.
Maternal health refers to the overall health of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. More than 136 million women give birth per year and about 20 million of them experience pregnancy-related complications.Who is at greatest risk of pregnancy-related complications? A woman’s risk increases with the number of pregnancies that she has. Therefore, adolescent girls under the age of 15 have the highest risks of developing complications over a lifetime.
It is important to know that the bleeding after a delivery can kill even a healthy woman, if not attended to properly. The risk of death is related to the access and availability of proper healthcare services. Generally, access to services is related to the income of the family or individual. Less income equates to less access to healthcare and greater risk of death or complications.
CREDITS.
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