Access to modern contraception can reduce maternal mortality
PRESIDENT of the International Confederation of Midwives Frances Day-Stirk has called for all women and adolescents to have access to modern contraception.
Day-Stirk, who was speaking at the Jamaica Midwives’ Association and University of the West Indies (UWI) School of Nursing public forum dubbed ‘Strategic conversation: transforming midwifery to meet the 2030 agenda’ held on January 9, said evidence suggests that access to modern contraception can reduce maternal deaths by 33 per cent, adding that there are 220 million people worldwide who have no access to contraception for various reasons whether religious or legal, and the situation needs to change.
“The risk of dying during or shortly after birth is 20 to 50 per cent higher for the poorest 20 per cent of households than for the richest quintile. Globally, the richest 20 per cent of women are almost three times more likely than the poorest 20 per cent to be attended to by a skilled professional during childbirth [or] to have a competent midwife by her side,” Day-Stirk said.
“Women die because they have limited or no access to health care or because the quality of care is poor. So I want to ask, can it be that health care planners and providers are not sufficiently engaged in the strategic conversations with women?”
She said to avoid maternal deaths, it is vital to prevent unwanted and too early pregnancies, and stated that several global and regional strategic conversations have already taken place. The results of those discussions among United Nations agencies, governments, non-governmental organisations, professional organisations and civil society have led to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the next 15 years.
“One hundred and ninety-three world leaders, including Jamaica, were there in New York. The SDGs take a broader transformative view. The SDGs are important to women’s sexual reproductive and maternal health, and to newborn health. These are important to midwives and to midwifery.”
Additionally, she said, the change in emphasis of the SDGs can help governments in choosing which goals they are going to address.
Day-Stirk said there are two important goals that from her perspective zoom in on the need for universal access to reproductive health care.
“This is goal three — to ensure healthy lives and to promote well-being for all and all ages. This is where maternal mortality, ending preventable newborn and child deaths, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services fits, and goal five which speaks to gender equality — empowering women and girls.”
The forum — brainchild of Cynthia Pitter, lecturer in the UWI School of Nursing and doctoral student at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Mona — was held to enable midwives to be agents of change to break the silence, improve quality of and care for patients, and aims to meet the new set of targets outlined in the SDGs.
– KH
