Summary
In the rural parts of Peru, the country’s highest death rate in pregnancy and childbirth happen in Ayacucho. This occurs because almost all of the women give birth at home. The people who assist them during childbirth do not know the proper techniques in delivering a baby properly. Also these people do not know how to treat hemorrhaging, infection, and other deadly complications. There were only six percent of births which occurred at a clinic. This was reported in 1999 in the Santillana district. In order for health workers to change this percentage, they have begun to ask people in the community about the traditional ways of giving birth. They also wanted to know what they clinic was doing wrong. The people explained that the workers at the clinic did speck the local language, Quechua. The people at the clinic treated their patients harshly. They would not allow husbands or relatives into the delivery room. The women were forced to wear hospital grown and were made to give birth laying down. Members of Health unlimited, a nongovernmental group, have changed the way in which the clinic delivers babies, made sure their language was spoken, let relatives stay, and other changes based on local traditions. Since the changes the percent of births which has taken place in the clinic has risen to twenty seven percent.
Reaction
I could understand why the percentages of birth were low in the clinic. I would not feel comfortable if the people at the clinic did not speak the same language as I do. I would be upset if they told me that I could not have by husband or other relatives in the delivery room. I feel that people at the clinic should respect my believe of the traditional method that I may use during childbirth. I believe that in order for a clinic to continue to stay open, they must be willing to adapt to the needs of their patients. In by doing so the clinic would probably gain more patients as well as respect. I am glad that the health workers got involved with finding out how the local people felt and what was their reasoning for not having birth at clinic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/health/08glob.html
1 comment:
I completely agree, I would never want to give birth in a clinic where the doctors and nurses couldn't speak the same language I was speaking. What if something went wrong, how would they relay that back to you if you don't share the same spoken language? It would also be very important for my husband to be in the room with me for that is a special moment in life that you can never repeat. Good to hear that they are improving the clinics in this area.
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