Pregnancy-related problems increasing death toll every year

A well-known health professional, Dr. Shehla Wali, stated that about 30,000 women die every year in Pakistan from pregnancy-related difficulties. Their deaths go without any notice to society, particularly people in higher affairs.

On Thursday, she reported that women’s deaths do not mostly occur of diseases, but due to the irrelevancy of women’s lives in the society, because of which many women find it difficult to decide the worth of their lives.

She told them that health is bestowed upon us by Allah (SWT), and the public should not opt towards self-medication. A renowned gynecologist educated by giving some figures on maternal death that one woman dies every 30 minutes, and an estimate of 375,000 go through the agony of pregnancy-related issues annually in Pakistan.

She added that most women’s deaths occur because of excessive bleeding, high blood pressure, and infections. Socio-economic factors such as poverty, low rights of women, and lack of education are also a reason.

Conferring with Dr. Shehla, she said our women are vastly anemic, and frequent pregnancies that too without their permission, have major effects on their health. Poor women do not have the facilities to deliver in hygienic and skilled hands. This increases maternal mortality and morbidity.

A woman should not have to give birth without her consent, and die while at it. This is a sign of poor family planning, she said.

The universal problem of our country that surround education, poverty and women’s empowerment can be the solution to diseases as such, she said. She also criticized the role of the media for not shedding light upon the real life issues of the public and just engaging in political warfare.