| From Yemen Observer Newspaper
(yobserver.com) Reports
This high rate of home deliveries could explain some of the high maternal mortality rate. More babies are being delivered at home than ever before. In 2004, 77.2 percent of all births occurred at home, 16.1 percent in government hospitals, 3.5 percent at a private hospital or clinic, and 3.2 percent in other locations, said a study by the Pan-Arab Project for Family Health Statistics. This means that in two years, the number of women giving birth at home grew by nearly 7 percent. Laila Nasser al-Misbahi, a local nurse who runs the Al-Salama clinic for women in Sana’a, claims that the lack of proper education among women is the main reason women prefer home births to hospital births. “The majority of women around the country prefer to give birth at home. However, if they understood the risks they would be facing, they would prefer hospitals. Education plays a major role in this issue,” said al-Misbahi. When asked why these home births have been increasing, she said, “It costs too much money to give birth at a hospital or clinic, where the average price is $50, whereas at home it would not cost anything.” A 2003 demographic survey estimated that 366 women die for every 100,000 babies born. Every day, eight Yemeni women die in childbirth, which is one of the highest mortality rates in the Arab world. “It is rare to find death cases when women are giving birth at hospitals,” said al-Misbahi. “I say this because not all women who have birth at home have an experienced person to help them in this crucial process. Some women are even made to help deliver the babies of other women, even if they don’t have any experience with the task.” According to governmental sources, 75 percent of Yemenis reside in villages in mostly isolated regions, whether in the mountains or the desert. This makes it very difficult for women to get medical attention, even if they wanted to find it. Rather than risking the long journey to see a doctor, in another town hours away, they choose to give birth at home. A study conducted by the United Nations Fund for Population showed that 38.8 percent of mothers die due to the lack of a nearby medical facility; 14.8 percent die because they cannot afford childbirth operation expenses; 8.8 percent die due to the absence of proper medical equipment and facilities; 5.5 percent die because of lack of transportation in these distant regions; and 2.6 percent die due to the husband’s refusal to take the mother to a hospital. Also, 11.8 percent of mothers simply prefer to give birth at home. Nujood Saleh al-Sarari of Sana’a, a mother of two, vowed never to give birth in a hospital after a traumatic experience giving birth to her first child. She claims that when she gave birth at Sabaeen Hospital, one of the largest governmental hospitals in the country, the nurses there treated her ruthlessly and acted as if she would die if she did not obey them. Two years later, while awaiting the birth of her second child, she decided it would be better to give birth at home. “The hospitals are not clean, nor are they organized. It is safer to give birth with an aunt or mother who has 20 years of experience, than with a newly graduated doctor who is still learning on you,” said al-Sarari. “Also, giving birth at home guarantees you that you will get appropriate care and love, while in a hospital or clinic you will be treated by someone who does the job because she has to.” Upon realizing that home delivery is only spreading in the country, the United Nations Fund for Population designed and prepared a kit to help women who give birth at home. It has launched a factory to produce these helpful kits, which contain: • Medical gloves and sterilized masks • Soap for washing hands before childbirth operations • Pieces of plastic cloth and sterilized cotton • Sterilized threads and razors • A detailed brochure from which midwives in any region can learn delivery procedures simply The United Nations Fund for Population hopes that its efforts to solve this crisis will be successful, thereby saving thousands of lives around the country every year. Copyright (c) 2002 - 2006, Yemen Observer Newspaper |
