Page 184 - Health, Population and Environment Education 10

Unsafe motherhood consists of maternal mortality and morbidity due to preventable
pregnancy and child birth related causes. On other hand, safe motherhood decreases the
maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. Although, most maternal and infant deaths
can be prevented through safe motherhood practices, millions of women worldwide are
affected by maternal mortality and morbidity from preventable causes.
All women should receive timely and high quality maternal care including antenatal and
postpartum care, assistance by a skilled birth attendant during delivery and emergency obstetric
care. Similarly, women should receive adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
Safe motherhood also encompasses the right of a woman to decide herself to be pregnant
or not. It also emphasizes to be healthy during pregnancy. Similarly, safe motherhood also
includes keeping pregnant mother and newborn healthy. A healthy woman can give birth
to a healthy baby. Many woman die throughout the world due to the complications related
to pregnancy and motherhood. The health of mother and newborn become healthy only if
the mother remains healthy during pregnancy. For a woman, pregnancy is a complicated
and risky stage. The stage from conception to child birth remain very complicated and
risky for a woman. Therefore, the family members and guardians should take care of
a pregnant woman. The services and information included in safe motherhood are
mentioned below:
i. To be pregnant at appropriate age.

ii. Proper care of the pregnant woman.
iii. Proper management of breast feeding, nutrition, rest and family planning.
iv. Proper plant for delivery and developing awareness against risk factors during
pregnancy.
v. Safe delivery by a trained health personnel using delivery kit.
vi. Finding the complexity of pregnant woman and admit to nearby health institution
for proper treatment.
vii. Proper management to prevent the infant from cold and immediate breast feeding.

Education and Health Services Related to Safe Motherhood

In rural areas of Nepal, child marriage is still in practice. Early marriage is not appropriate
to be pregnant in the prospective of health science. A woman becomes mature to be
pregnant only after 20 years of age. Many complications may arise in pregnant woman
before the age of 20 years. We should develop awareness to be pregnant only after maturity
for good health of mother and the new born. A woman should produce less babies and
there should be appropriate birth spacing. Producing a large number of children spoils
the heath of the mother. A woman should produce maximum two babies and the birth
spacing between them should be 4 to 5 years. It helps in proper care and nourishment of
the first child.

184 GREEN Health, Population and Environment Education Book-10