Ethiopian Women Seek Improved Access to Pre-Natal Care

Aisha Crawford
Oct 29th 2009
3:20
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-10-29-voa55.cfm

Every year, half a million pregnant women in third world countries die of complications during childbirth, and about six million children are stillborn or die within a week of birth. In Ethiopia, people live in very rural areas that are located far from medical facilities. Women have to travel on foot for hours just to reach the nearest clinics which only have rudimentary quality care.
The article goes on to talk about this clinic in one of the cities in Ethiopia.The hospital has a delivery room, basic equipment and trained professionals.They provided vaccinations and antenatal care to mothers. But work with only limited supplies

In Ethiopia the infant mortality rate is 86 out of every thousand.When women give labor and do not seek prenatal or postnatal care, it can cause many problems for the child and the mother including fistula. Fistula is a childbirth injury – a hole made between the bladder and the wall of the cervix or rectum through which fluids leak. many women die while giving birth, but some make it to the only fistula hospital in the country. It is huge trouble attracting educated medical officials because most of them do not want to work in the rural country side.

The government says health extension workers will help out in efforts to expand healthcare access for millions of Ethiopia's rural women. But there is no quick fix in sight -- as poor infrastructure and a high population growth remain formidable challenges.
This is a tragic scenario that plays out in many countries. The government is not providing adequate healthcare for its citizens and they are truely suffering! While watching a tv show about fistula, they showed how the women are shunned for having the disease. Which is sad because they need someone there supporting them. Another thing I found alarming about the country is the lack of hospitals and how far they are away from the people. I can not imagine walking for hours on foot just to get treatment from someone who is not even a real doctor! Truely saddening.