Original report from Washington
07 April 2008
Women in developing countries risk death and disability every time they become pregnant.
Complications before, during and after often can be be fatal in the developing world, according to Unicef.
"In Cambodia there were 472 deaths per 100,000 live births from 2000 to 2005, making maternity-related complications one of the leading causes of death of Cambodian women from ages 15 to 49," said Dr. Tung Rathavy, deputy director of the National Maternal and Child Center, who attended the 29th annual national health conference in Phnom Penh last week.
"Most births took place at home, outside of the health facilities. Cambodia needs 960 health facilities to serve the population," she told VOA Khmer. "We have today 830 health facilities. Among 830 facilities, 112 health facilities do not have nurses."
"Births at home provided by a woman's family and attendants can be safe," she added. "If complications occur, the attendants are able to move the woman to a facility where trained professionals can provide care."
In 2008, the National Assembly approved a budget of $101 million for the health care sector in order to improve its standards comparable to the other countries in the region.
Complications before, during and after often can be be fatal in the developing world, according to Unicef.
"In Cambodia there were 472 deaths per 100,000 live births from 2000 to 2005, making maternity-related complications one of the leading causes of death of Cambodian women from ages 15 to 49," said Dr. Tung Rathavy, deputy director of the National Maternal and Child Center, who attended the 29th annual national health conference in Phnom Penh last week.
"Most births took place at home, outside of the health facilities. Cambodia needs 960 health facilities to serve the population," she told VOA Khmer. "We have today 830 health facilities. Among 830 facilities, 112 health facilities do not have nurses."
"Births at home provided by a woman's family and attendants can be safe," she added. "If complications occur, the attendants are able to move the woman to a facility where trained professionals can provide care."
In 2008, the National Assembly approved a budget of $101 million for the health care sector in order to improve its standards comparable to the other countries in the region.
5 comments:
472 per 100,000 is 0.4%. This is already a huge improvement.
What was the stats from previous years to show that 472/100000 as a huge improvement?
I remembered seen the number 10 times higher (4%) on the net when they compared to the Lon Nol's regime, and they used standard percentage, not per 10k/100k/or million to politicize such a serious issue.
i'm glad this caught the attention of the gov't to do something to help cambodian women. as people are aware already, being pregnant poses a great risk to a woman's life from birth complication to death from giving birth. it is the most traumatic experience a woman can be, especially in an underdevelopped country like cambodia. in contrast, the the USA, when a woman is giving birth, all kind of emergency situation can occur during this time of a woman's life, and all precautions are taken to prepare for the worst scenerio. however, in a third-world country like cambodia, death can often follow a woman's giving birth as there are lack of proper emergency team to perform c-section, in case there is a complication. i hope the cambodian gov't is asking for technical assistance and know-how from the west or japan to help cambodian mothers during birth. please help cambodian women to improve their mortality rate from this kind of complication. god bless.
I think this is normal because Khmer women have too many kids. A lot of them had as much as eight, and that is where the risk is. Westerners women don't have anywhere close to that amount. If they have the same, I am sure it will be worse for them.
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