Maternal and Infant Deaths Increase Three-fold During the Pandemic Period

As the fight against Covid-19 disease continues around the world, women's sexual and reproductive health rights have become even more fragile. The Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (CİSÜ) Platform called for the fight against the pandemic to be carried out in a way that includes the needs of the mother during pregnancy and after birth, within the scope of the International Mother Health and Rights Day.

The World Health Organization (WHO), affiliated with the United Nations, declared April 2018 as Mother Health and Rights Day in 11, as a result of the intense struggles of women's rights organizations that campaign on a global scale to reduce preventable maternal deaths to zero. Although child deaths have decreased by almost half and maternal deaths by nearly a third since 2000, these deaths are still burning. According to the data announced by WHO in 2020, 295 thousand mothers die every year due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. 86 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries.

These deaths, which are said to be preventable with women's access to healthcare, contraception and abortion facilities, are worried that they will increase further in the pandemic conditions the world has been struggling with for more than a year. Nurcan Müftüoğlu, the General Coordinator of TAP Foundation, who runs the CİSÜ Platform secretariat, drew attention to the effects of this health crisis on women's health, in a statement she made as part of the International Maternal Health and Rights Day.

“The pandemic process negatively affects access to reproductive health and rights. More women; Using the expressions of safe motherhood, regulation of fertility and the risk of not accessing pregnancy termination services, Müftüoğlu said: “It is normal that the fight against pandemic becomes the main agenda item, but this struggle should be carried out in a way to cover the needs of sexual and reproductive health services that are more urgent in this period. . ”

Maternal and infant deaths tripled during childbirth

In centric Lancet England was released in March 2021, conducted in 17 countries including Turkey also found the research, the access to maternity health services is restricted during this period, the maternal and infant mortality during childbirth has revealed that trebled. London St. According to the research conducted by George Hospital, both the occupancy in health centers and the preference of pregnant women not to go to hospitals for fear of catching coronavirus was effective in this. On the other hand, postpartum depression, maternal anxiety disorders and mental health deterioration of mothers, which occurred after healthy births, also increased significantly.