In 2010, alhamdulillaah I got a chance to attend three courses in the Netherlands. The courses were: Tropical Infection, Public Health in International Perspective and HIV/AIDS. There were many interesting subjects from each course. However, this one, I think, is the most interesting, one of the deepest discussions during the whole course.
Why did Safar Banu die was a case, a real case, about a mother with nine children who was about to have her tenth baby. Since she had already nine children she never attended any antenatal classes because she didn’t have any time. She (and her husband) believed that her tenth pregnancy would be just fine. She worked very hard and ate very little. She got anaemia that she didn’t realize… Until the due date, she had difficult labor, bleeding, no money to refer her to the hospital… and unfortunately she ran out of blood and died. The worst of all was she had little support from his husband, the one who should support her the most…
This case was very miserable since this was a true story. The fact is, there are a lot Safar Banu cases especially in developing countries. In Indonesia, based on Indonesian Health and Demographic Survey 2012, maternal mortality is up to 359 death per 100,000 birth alive with bleeding as the main cause of death. Anaemia during pregnancy, increases the risk of bleeding in labor.
If only every pregnancy is being well planned and well supported, I believe there will be less Safar Banu case in the world. In your opinion, what can we help in order to support life since pregnancy?
In depth reading:
http://www.depkes.go.id/download.php?file=download/pusdatin/infodatin/infodatin-ibu.pdf
