Written by: Samia Khan, Senior Communications Officer Canadian Red Cross Pakistan Delegation
Every day, thousands of women celebrate one of life’s most amazing experiences — becoming a mother. Although the world has made tremendous progress in reducing child and maternal mortality in the last two decades, still globally, every few seconds a mother’s first moments with her baby are cut short, on the very day she gives birth.
Let me tell you the story of one mother who feels the loss of her baby every day. I met Gul Sanga in a rural Pakistani village of Swat, where more than 60 per cent of the deliveries happen at home without any formal tools and skills. There was still a deep sadness in her eyes as her fourth child, a little girl, had died 18 months ago, taking only a few tiny breaths before she couldn’t anymore.
Four times out of five, a baby suffering from birth asphyxia can be resuscitated. All that’s needed is a health worker with basic training. Yet 25 per cent of newborn deaths are caused by birth asphyxia because even that care is out of reach for many women such as Gul Sanga. The traditional birth attendant, whom neighbours had called to help Gul Sanga didn’t know what to do. And so her little angel died.
I SAW THE LIFESAVING POWER OF LOCAL HEALTH WORKERS FIRST-HAND
Gul Sanga said she cried every day, until she found Farzana, a Lady Health Visitor trained by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society with the support of Canadian Red Cross (CRC), at a Rural Health Centre in Chuprial. Farzana comforted Gul Sanga and told her about the importance of antenatal and post natal checkups during various community sessions. She also mentioned the need to get to any medical facility at the time of delivery.
When Gul Sanga became pregnant again, she was a different woman altogether. She sought out antenatal care at the Chuprial Rural Health Centre. At first, it was intimidating for Gul Sanga, who never went to school and never left her immediate neighbourhood. But she trusted Farzana, saved money for a taxi, and gave birth to her fifth child safely in a hospital.
MILLIONS IN IMPOVERISHED COUNTRIES ARE ALIVE TODAY THANKS TO MNCH PROGRAMS
The need to develop and implement comprehensive Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programs has been widely recognized. Through MNCH programs around the globe, millions of people in impoverished countries are alive today because a midwife was by their side when they gave birth, or they were vaccinated as infants by a nurse, or because a Community Health Worker taught their families to adopt healthy behaviors like antenatal and post-natal checkups, breastfeeding, hand washing, birth spacing, and sleeping under a mosquito net.
When I visited the Rural Health Centre in Chuprial, I witnessed the progress that is being made. Pakistan has some of the worst MNCH indicators on the planet; 25,000 to 30,000 women die every year due to the complications of pregnancy and child birth, one million children die before the age of five years, while 16,000 die in the first month after birth, and millions of women and children suffer ill health and disability.
During my visit to Swat, Gul Sanga came for one of her post-natal checkups at the Rural Health Centre with her newborn. With her baby boy in her arms, she thanked Farzana for instilling in her the motivation to lead a normal life again. Now we can proudly say that — together — the Canadian Red Cross and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society are saving lives in Pakistan.
You can support the MNCH work of the Red Cross by donating online or learning more.
The Government of Canada will be hosting a high-level summit on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) that the Canadian Red Cross will be participating in with a network of over 60 Canadian organizations.
