Regional Reports - Yemen
Combating high maternal mortality
The maternal mortality rate
(MMR) remains high as a
result of poor health care and
harmful social practices,
including child marriage and
female genital mutilation, a
UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) official in Yemen
has said.
"Maternal mortality is very
high in Yemen. Some 360
women die per 100,000 live
births and that figure could be
higher," said Naseem Ur-
Rehman, UNICEF’s chief
information officer in Yemen,
at a press briefing in January to
launch the State of the World's
Children 2009 report – available
online at:
www.unicef.org/sowc09
Eight women or girls die
from pregnancy or childbirth
complications every day in
Yemen, he said; globally the
figure is 1,500.
According to the UNICEF
report, the lifetime risk of maternal death in Yemen is
1:39, making it the highest in
the Middle East.
At the same time Yemen has
the lowest percentage of births
in the Middle East at which a
skilled attendant is present:
Delivery care coverage is 36%,
and 24% of births take place in
hospitals.
The report said a study by
the World Health Organisation
(WHO) found that female
genital mutilation/cutting,
which is widespread in rural
areas, affected the reproductive
health of women: It caused
severe pain, prolonged
bleeding, infection, infertility
and even death.
The report defines maternal
mortality as “the death of a
woman while pregnant or
within 42 days of the pregnancy’s
termination, regardless
of the site or duration of the
pregnancy, from any cause
related to, or aggravated by, the
pregnancy or its management”.
Shortage of health workers
UNICEF's Ur-Rehman said
the lack of health workers was
one of the reasons for the high
MMR and neonatal mortality
rates, adding that Yemen was
among 57 countries where “the
shortage of health workers is
acute”.
“Worldwide, there is a
shortage of 4.3 million health
workers who provide care at the
time of pregnancy and delivery,”
he said, adding that there
should be a minimum of 2.28
health workers per 1,000 people.
Yemeni health officials estimate
there is one doctor per
10,000 people and that health
services reach only 60% of the
country's 21 million people.
Child marriages
Ur-Rehman said child marriage,
which aggravates high fertility
rates by giving girls a longer
period in which to have children,
added to the risks.
"Yemen faces this problem of
child marriages. There are a
large number of child
marriages and they ultimately
contribute to the deaths of
children," he said.
Nabil Mohammed al-
Ammari, executive director of
the Yemeni Family Care
Association, said lack of
awareness about family planning
and reproductive health
care services also translated
into a higher MMR.
According to UNICEF’s
Ur-Rehman, three things can
reduce the high MMR: better
community and family
support for pregnant women;
comprehensive health insurance
to cover the costs associated
with pregnancy, child
birth and post-natal care; and
the setting up of establishments
where pregnant women
from remote areas can go for
advice and help prior to their
due date.
"Many of these women who
are dying are too poor to get to
health facilities. Some families
take the mother to hospital,
but she turns out to be dead on
arrival,” he said. – IRIN
Date
of upload: 31st March 2009
