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Zero maternal deaths in Belize
– Reported, January 26, 2013
In Belize every woman’s pregnancy and delivery is under the microscope of the Millennium Development Goals, U.N. anti-poverty pledges made by governments that are due in 2015.
“We had zero maternal deaths in 2011,” said Dr. Natalia Largaespada-Beer, director of maternal and child health for Belize’s Ministry of Health, in an email interview. “Every obstetric emergency is considered a national emergency.”
To meet its goal of 10 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births, the country with a population of only around 400,000 people–and just 7,000 women or so who give birth each year–will have to keep that up.
With each woman’s life and death holding huge sway over its national statistic, the country offers a snapshot of public health services that seem to be working, even during a hard economic downturn.
Staffing and supply shortages plague hospitals and rural clinics, but many institutions are still making gains. Since 2008, for instance, a handful– Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, Northern Regional Hospital in the northern part of the country and Corozal Community Hospital–have received a UNICEF “baby-friendly” designation showing their commitment to fostering breastfeeding.
Largaespada-Beer said some of the strategies Belize has implemented include distribution of iron and folic acid to females ages 10 to 49 to reduce anemia and the risk for postpartum hemorrhage.The country provides mobile and community clinics that treat the leading causes of mortality in women, such as hypertension during pregnancy among women with hospital deliveries and postpartum hemorrhaging among those who deliver at home.
Among Belize’s diverse population, those least likely to breastfeed exclusively for the crucial first three months were better-educated women, mostly from urban areas and with careers, and within the Creole community, the country’s ministry reports. The highest rate of exclusive breastfeeding was among the Q’eqch’i Maya and women who gave birth at home.
While the benefits to infants are more commonly emphasized, studies have also shown that breastfeeding helps with postnatal weight loss and reduces the risk of postnatal hemorrhage and breast, ovarian and uterine cancers.The government also promotes institutional–versus home–deliveries and more skilled birth attendants. Although many rural women prefer to give birth at home around their families, they can now also call an ambulance that arrives with a midwife in case of an en-route delivery.
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