High Maternal Mortality Rate in Sierra Leone Cause For Concern: Amnesty

One in eight women in Sierra Leone risk death during childbirth or pregnancy and the government must act to improve maternal health care, rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday.

International rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday that one in eight women in Sierra Leone risks death during childbirth or pregnancy and the government must act to improve maternal health care.

"Women and girls are dying in their thousands because they are routinely denied their right to life and health, in spite of promises from the government to provide free health care to all pregnant women," it said.

Maternal Mortality Remains The Same in Africa
The huge numbers of women dying while giving birth due to lack of medical facilities in Africa has not abated over the past decade, a World Health Organisation expert said on Thursday.

The organisation called the one-in-eight number "one of the highest maternal death rates in the world."

"Thousands of women bleed to death after giving birth," Amnesty said in a statement. "Most die in their homes. Some die on the way to hospital, in taxis, on motorbikes or on foot."

It added that "less than half of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant and less than one in five are carried out in health facilities."

UNICEF Concerned Over High Maternal Mortality
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Friday around half a million women die each year from complications in childbirth and 10 million more suffer life-long disabilities

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce new financing for health care in developing countries, including Sierra Leone, at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Amnesty said.

"Additional money is desperately needed in Sierra Leone but will not reach women and children in remote areas who are at greatest risk," said the organisation's secretary general, Irene Khan.

Lowering Maternal Mortality Rates After C-Section by Embolisation
New studies have recommended that the incidence of maternal deaths following a cesarean delivery could be reduced by a new medical procedure- thromboembolism prophylaxis

"The lives of women and girls will only be saved when the health system is properly managed and the government is held to account."

Campaigners will tour the war-torn West African country in the coming weeks to spur debate on the issue, Amnesty said.

UN Task Force Says Efforts to Reduce Maternal Mortality are Failing
The world has failed to take the costly but basic steps needed to save millions of women and children from death at childbirth, a high-profile taskforce said Thursday.

Source-AFP
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