Rotary’s focus for April is Child and Maternal Health, so this week we heard from one of our members who is well versed in this area: Dr Ken Collins.
Even in this day and age the figures of mother and child mortality is staggering, despite advances in medicine in the western world.
Some facts and figures presented were:
- Australia – 6.8 mothers die per 100,000 births
- USA – 23.8 mothers die per 100,000 births
- Sierra Leone- 1,360 mothers die per 100,000 births (the worst worldwide)
- 340,000 mothers die per year worldwide
Most common causes of death:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Infection
- Post-partum haemorrhage
- High blood pressure – brain haemorrhages and pre-eclampsia
The death rate of babies is:
- Australia – 3.3 per 1,000 births, mainly due to malformations / difficult confinements / cord around neck
- USA – 5.5 per 1,000 births
- Lowest death rate of babies is in Monaco, Japan and Iceland.
- Highest death rate is in Afghanistan at 110 per 1,000 births