SAFE MOTHERHOOD AND NEWBORN HEALTH (FIRST PART)

Girls who are educated and healthy and who have a nutritious diet throughout their childhood and teenage years are more likely to have healthy babies and go through pregnancy and childbirth safely if childbearing begins after they are 18 years old.

Girls with more formal education are better equipped to fulfil their potential in life. They tend to know about health-care practices and are less likely to become pregnant at a very young age. They are more likely to marry later, have fewer and better-spaced pregnancies, and seek prenatal and post-natal care. It is estimated that two maternal deaths can be prevented for every additional year of school attendance per 1,000 women.

The healthy growth and development of a girl through adolescence helps to prepare her for healthy pregnancies during her childbearing years.

In addition to education and health care, girls need a nutritious diet during childhood and adolescence to reduce problems later in pregnancy and childbirth. A nutritious diet includes iodized salt and foods rich in essential minerals and vitamins such as beans and other pulses, grains, green leafy vegetables, and red, yellow and orange vegetables and fruits. Whenever possible, milk or other dairy products, eggs, fish, chicken and meat should be included in the diet.

Girls who stay in school are more likely to delay marriage and childbirth. Early pregnancy can have serious consequences for adolescents under 18 years old, particularly for those under 15 years old. Adolescent girls and their babies are at much higher risk of complications and death.

It is important to empower girls to avoid early pregnancy and inform both girls and boys about the risks of early pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. They both need to develop the skills to make healthy life choices that also support equality and respect in relationships.

Genital cutting of girls and women can cause severe vaginal and urinary infections that can result in sterility or death. It can also cause dangerous complications during childbirth.

Health workers and community outreach programmes can help raise awareness of harmful practices and the importance for adolescents to delay marriage and pregnancy for their health and well-being.

Families need to understand the high risks of early pregnancy. If an adolescent girl marries early and/or becomes pregnant, her family should provide her with support and ensure she obtains the health service she needs.

The risks associated with childbearing for the mother and her baby can be greatly reduced if a woman is healthy and well nourished before becoming pregnant. During pregnancy and while breastfeeding, all women need more nutritious meals, increased quantities of food, more rest than usual, iron-folic acid or multiple micronutrient supplements, even if they are consuming fortified foods, and iodized salt to ensure the proper mental development of their babies.

Adolescent girls, women, pregnant women and new mothers need the best foods available: milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, grains, peas and beans. All of these foods are safe to eat during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. 

Women will feel stronger and be healthier during pregnancy if they eat nutritious meals, consume greater quantities of nutritious food and get more rest than usual. Nutritious foods rich in iron, vitamin A and folic acid include meat, fish, eggs, green leafy vegetables, and orange or yellow fruits and vegetables.

After childbirth, women also need nutritious meals and a greater quantity of food and rest. Breastfeeding mothers need about 500 extra calories per day, the equivalent of an additional meal.

During prenatal visits, a trained health worker can provide the pregnant woman with iron-folic acid or multiple micronutrient supplements to prevent or treat anaemia. Malaria or hookworm infection can be treated if needed. The health worker can also screen the pregnant woman for night blindness and, as necessary, prescribe an adequate dosage of vitamin A to treat the woman and contribute to the healthy development of the fetus. 

If the pregnant woman thinks she has anaemia, malaria or hookworms, she should consult a trained health worker. 

Salt consumed by families should be iodized. Iodine in a pregnant woman’s and young child’s diet is especially critical for the healthy development of the child’s brain. Goitre, a swelling at the front of the neck, is a clear sign that the body is not getting enough iodine. A diet low in iodine is especially damaging during the early stages of pregnancy and in early childhood. Women who do not have enough iodine in their diet are more likely to have an infant who is mentally or physically disabled. Severe iodine deficiency can cause cretinism (stunted physical and mental growth), stillbirth, miscarriage and increased risk of infant mortality.

Smoking, alcohol, drugs, poisons and pollutants are particularly harmful to pregnant women, the developing fetus, babies and young children.

If a pregnant woman smokes, her child is more likely to be born underweight. Her child is also more likely to have coughs, colds, croup, pneumonia or other breathing problems.

A pregnant woman can damage her own health and the health of the fetus by drinking alcohol or using narcotics. These substances can severely affect a child’s physical and mental development. The mother-to-be should stop drinking alcohol and/or taking drugs as soon as she plans a pregnancy or suspects she is pregnant. If she has difficulty stopping, she should seek medical advice and support from a trained health worker, a health centre or a substance-abuse organization. 

A pregnant woman should not take medicines during pregnancy unless they are absolutely necessary and prescribed by a trained health worker.

To ensure proper physical growth and mental development of the child, women of childbearing age, pregnant women, mothers and young children need to be protected from smoke from tobacco or cooking fires; from pesticides, herbicides and other poisons; and from pollutants such as lead found in water transported by lead pipes, in vehicle exhaust and in some paints. 

Families and communities can especially help pregnant women, mothers and their children by supporting smoke-free environments so they do not inhale damaging secondary tobacco smoke. Workplaces should protect women of childbearing age, pregnant women and mothers from exposure to harmful smoke, poisons and pollutants that can affect their health and that of their children.

COURTESY TO UNICEF