This blog struck at my heart. It is about an Afghan woman who lost nine of her children shortly after birth before becoming educated. She now has three living children. Having nine children of my own I just could not imagine the emotional pain. Rogul now works as a midwife in Guldara district, just 20 minutes outside of Kabul. Many babies in Afghanistan die because of traditional cultural practices. It is common for babies to be washed in freezing water immediately after birth, unsterile knives are used to cut umbilical cords and babies are often placed on dirty floors to ward off evil spirits. Newborns are often feed melted butter at birth, because the mothers colostrum is seen as dirty, preventing the infant from receiving vital nutrition for their immune system.
Stories of ignorance prevail. Teenage girl had no idea how pregnancies happened, even after they were married. Many young girls who are married have no idea that sex with their spouse equals pregnancy. The key to education is using local people to education this population. The British Charity Save the Children along with the ministry of public health has launched a program to train 400 new midwives a year. Rogul has saved the lives of many children in the Guldare district. The number of women giving birth with the help of a trained midwife has more than triple since 2003. There are still not enough midwives to go around, but more than 2,400 midwives have been trained since 2002. This is a positive move in the right direction.
Sorry this is late. My blog folder show it was empty and I did not know how to access the site. Dr. Sills told me to also e-mail him.
1 comment:
These are such happy notes...that the world is changing and getting better from where it was.I hope the pollution situation also improves day by day,there is better awareness definitely.
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