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UNDERSERVED

Women’s health:

It’s a small world after all

By Ruth Berggren, MD

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was excerpted from remarks by Ruth Berggren, MD, who was the guest speaker
at the 21st annual BCMS Women in Medicine Appreciation Event Nov. 19.

Every two minutes, a woman dies of preg-
nancy-related complications; the four most
common being severe bleeding, infection,
high blood pressure and unsafe abortions.
Ninety percent of these deaths should be
preventable.
In Haiti, where I grew up, women are
considered the central pillars of the family
and their communities -- they are often
the most underserved members of the
community.
Like too many other developing coun-
tries, Haiti and its 10 million people suffer
from a shortage of skilled healthcare profes-
sionals. There are only 25 physicians and 11
nurses per 100,000 residents, and only one
midwife for every 1,000 live births. This
leads to a maternal mortality ratio (MMR)
of 350/100,000 live births. That means that
for every 100,000 live babies born, 350
women die.

SAVING WOMEN’S LIVES

In the United States, the MMR is 21. Before you start pat- • Ensure access to emergency obstetrical care.
ting yourself on the back, be aware that we rank 135th out of The good news is that in the last 20 years, the number of
183 countries in terms of MMR. In other words, 47 countries maternal deaths dropped from more than half a million to
do better than the United States in saving the lives of mothers 287,000, a 47 percent drop that saves a quarter of a million
giving birth. Sweden, Italy and Austria have MMR’s of only 4 lives per year. Many of those lives mean that a family still has
deaths per 100,000 live births. a mother.
We can do so much better, if 90 percent of maternal deaths
are preventable. How? According to the United Nations Pop- EDUCATION IS KEY
ulation Fund (UNFPA), the following three initiatives can get But there are more than those three initiatives of the UNFPA
us most of the way there: for us to focus on. One of the most important initiatives to
• Improve access to voluntary family planning. Strive for improve women’s health is education, which I suspect that all
every child to be a wanted child. of us honor and value and seek to share. No doubt we’ve each
• Invest in health workers with midwifery skills, especially in told children that education is the key to a bright future, and
health professional shortage areas. that once you have completed it, is something no one will ever

14 San Antonio Medicine • February 2014