Last year instead of the delivery room, 5 expectant mothers ended up in the morgue after dying from pregnancy related complications. That is two more deaths than in 2003. And if you think that is bad, so far for 2005 an average of one pregnant woman has died per month. That is 8 deaths so far for this year but the Ministry of Health isn't sounding any alarms, at least not yet. It is however a major concern to the National Committee for Families and Children which over the past three days has been meeting with 75 police officers, health care professionals, social workers, and PAHO representatives on maternal mortality. NCFC's Executive Director Judith Alpuche told us why the problem needs addressing now.
Judith Alpuche, NCFC Executive Director
"If we look at it from the maternal mortality ratio, which is the internationally accepted standard, right now we stand at about 102 per 100,000 live births which in Belize, because of our small numbers, translate to about 8 days so far this year and the year is not complete yet. It may sound like a small number but in the 21st century one maternal death from a preventable cause is too many.
One of the problems that the Ministry of Health finds is that women do not access antenatal care early. The ideal situation is for women to access care twelve weeks into their pregnancy but in Belize we see they are accessing it either in the last trimester of their pregnancy, if at all."
Keith Swift,
You can't force these pregnant mothers to go to the hospital so what are you going to do?
Judith Alpuche,
"You're right, we cannot force, but we need to provide them with education. I firmly believe that a lot of times people do not access these health services and they are having children in their homes with unskilled birth attendants because they don't have the information a lot of the times."
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
