Good Maternal Morbidity And Maternal Health Article Review Example

We were all born into this world after nine months in a mother’s womb. In that span of time, the mother cares for herself as well as for the baby. Whatever care and essential nutrients the mother gets, the growing fetus absorbs as well. But what if a mother, carrying a growing fetus, does not receive enough care during the course of a pregnancy.
One of the compelling stories, as told in the book entitled Half the Sky, is about a teenage girl who was sold to a man to be his second wife. Mahabouba Muhammad, who lives in rural Ethiopia, was only thirteen when she was sold to Jiad, who became her husband. Mahabouba was not treated very kindly both by the husband and the first wife. Every attempt she did to get away from his husband always failed. After experiencing constant beating as well as rape, Mahabouba got pregnant. At this point, Mahabouba’s story just became more tragic. Since she got pregnant, her husband grew a bit more lenient and she was able to escape. When no one would take her in, she tried to drown herself but her uncle found her and gave her all the help that he could give. In the time of labor, with nobody’s help, Mahabouba tries to deliver her baby alone. But the baby’s head was too large and her pelvis was not able to accommodate it. The dead baby inside her posed a great threat to Mahabouba’s life and paralyzed her feet. Without being able to walk, she was able to find help in a hospital dedicated to girls who have the same condition.
Teenage girls like Mahabouba should not experience this kind of life. Although, personally, I found her story very tragic, I was relieved that her story turned out well. The hospital, where she was brought to, offered to teach her to become a nurse who takes care of the other girls. This only proves that, if only education was easily available, these kinds of tragic cases could be avoided. This education can be about nursing, just like the one taught to Mahabouba. Since Mahabouba takes care of girls with the condition like she had, she knows, if not exactly, the feeling of hopelessness. Because of this, she could give appropriate care to her patients. This is where education about health becomes very helpful. Hopefully, they would be more ready for pregnancy after they finish their education. The more tragic thing than a helpless pregnant teenager is a baby who died not able to see the world even just for a second. Of course, we were all kids once. It is just so depressing that some kids on the other side of the world experience this kind of state of life. I have heard stories of children being forced to labor, of children working tirelessly just so they could eat but the story of Mahabouba is a different tragic story. It just makes you wonder, where humanity have gone.
On the technical side, maternal morbidity is defined as a physical or mental disability or illness associated by childbirth or pregnancy which are not necessarily life-threatening. On that note, if it is not life threatening, it achieves a certain effect such that it will pose a great impact to the mother or the child. Maternal morbidity can have consequences to the child, the family and the mother. The effect on the mother includes a list of physical consequences such as fistula, infection, maternal nutrition and more importantly survival. This effect was reflected on Mahabouba’s story. She strived for life and now, she is helping others to survive as well. From a local scale, nursing profession could reach out to girls personally. Teaching girls about pregnancy on a personal level could give a more positive result. On a regional scale and global scale, the nursing profession could ask for support while spreading the word about cases just like Mahabouba’s.
A line in Half the Sky states that the reason why women’s maternal health is often neglected is the reason that, first they are females, second, they are poor, and lastly they are rural. It is ironic that those who need help the most get to be neglected first.

Reference:

Koblinsky, M., Chowdhury, M. E., Moran, A., & Ronsmans, C. (2012). Maternal Morbidity and Disablity and their Consequences: Neglected Agenda in Maternal Health. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition.