Approximately 290,000 women Women die during childbirth every year around the world, and one-third of those who survive develop long-term health problems after pregnancy.

This is according to the series “Maternal health after perinatal period”. Published on Wednesday in Lancet Global Health.

Some of the most common post-pregnancy symptoms can last for months and even years after birth. These include:

  • Dyspareunia, or pain during intercourse (affects 35% of postpartum women)
  • Lower back pain (32%)
  • Anal incontinence (19%)
  • Urinary incontinence (8-31%)
  • Anxiety (9-24%)
  • Depression (11-17%)
  • Perineal pain (11%)
  • Bed phobia or fear of childbirth (6-15%)
  • Second infertility (11%)

Globally, many women who suffer from postpartum complications live in areas without access to postpartum services, the authors said, and the health problem is “mostly underdiagnosed, underdiagnosed, and underreported.” It is said that

“Many postpartum symptoms cause great distress in women’s daily lives. [lives] emotionally and physically for a long time after birth,” Dr. Pascal Allotey, director of sexual and reproductive health and research at the World Health Organization, said in a Wednesday news release about the series.

“Throughout their lives and once they become mothers, women need access to a wide range of services from health care providers who listen to their concerns and respond to their needs. Instead, they can stay healthy and enjoy a quality of life,” he added. .

Report: Maternal deaths are a ‘clear violation of human rights’

In 2015, United Nations member states 17 sustainable development goalsWe aim to achieve this goal by 2030 “for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.” Among the sub-goals is to reduce maternal deaths to 70 deaths per 100,000 live births.

However, the number of maternal deaths in 2020 was nearly half of what it would have been by 2030, at 223 per 100,000 people, a significant decrease from 339 per 100,000 in 2000, but still far from the target.

“The nearly three million avoidable lives lost between 2010 and 2020 is not only a global tragedy, but also a major contributor to health inequalities between and within countries. “This is a flagrant human rights violation,” the researchers wrote.

According to the series, only two of the United Nations’ 10 regions have seen a decline in maternal mortality since 2016: Central and South Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. It has stagnated in most regions, including sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), East and Southeast Asia, and North Africa. And it is increasing in her four regions: Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

When aiming to reduce maternal mortality, public health authorities typically turn to medical interventions. Although the role of social forces is rarely investigated, the authors argue that this may be why 121 out of 185 countries have maintained maternal mortality rates the same for 20 years.

A list of often ignored causes and contributing factors to maternal mortality:

  • gender inequality
  • low socio-economic status
  • racism and discrimination
  • mother’s education is low
  • false information
  • live in the countryside
  • hunger
  • corruption
  • armed conflict
  • Low partner involvement
  • suicide

“Maternal health is not something you should start worrying about only when the pregnancy bump appears,” said João Paulo Sousa, director of the WHO Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information Center and author of the paper. . release.

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