“No mother shall die while giving life”

I read somewhere that a great thinker once said ‘…a state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm…’ I say a society that lets its women die while giving life is cutting that right arm off!!

We are in the middle of the month long campaign declared by the Ethiopian government to reduce maternal mortality rate. Low level of awareness on maternal health care services, and failure to seek prenatal and post natal medical services are said to be the major contributors to high maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia.

The reduction of maternal mortality rate, which is also one of the MDGs, is not an easy work in this country of around 80 million people/about half of that women/, country of poor infrastructure in general and poor health care infrastructure in particular and a country of rugged mountainous terrain on one hand and hostile lowlands on the other. Topping that, the rural population/mainly/ is still under the strong influence of traditional believes and ways of life which are as varied as the number of ethnic and religious groups the country is home to.

These factors make women’s predicament even worse since most are uneducated and economically completely dependent on their families or spouses. But most troublesome causes of maternal mortality are well understood by modern medicine and with proper actions and resources there are ways to eliminate almost all of them.

It goes without saying that the whole endeavor requires the concerted efforts of the government, NGOs CSOs, donors as well as individuals. However, I want us to think of easy measures we can take to contribute to the campaign, in our little ways. Not steps that require mobilization of other people or funds somehow, just actions we can take as an individual that can change the situation even if it is only for one woman.

So you can do any of the following, plus much more …
• Promote the campaign in your community, work place, family and other places to contribute to the creation and enhancement of awareness.
• Think of any family you know that is expecting a child, both in rural areas and the cities, and mention maternal health care/pre-natal and post-natal medical service/ to them. And when you do this talk not only to the women but also to the men, since many a time, they control the resources the mother- to- be needs to get the services.
• See if there is or are women who need financial support to get the services in your community, family, workplace etc, and make contributions according to your capacity. Know that there are some women in desperate situations have no money even to buy food daily let alone seek medical care.

Now these measures and many more you can think of may not change the situation significantly, but they do answer the question on what you have done to the cause in your own capacity as an individual.