AAPDEP's Stop the Hemmorhaging Tour

8/8/2019 AAPDEP's Stop the Hemmorhaging Tour

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DearFuturePartner,

TheAllAfricanPeoplesDevelopmentandEmpowermentProject(AAPDEP)would liketoannounce its

latestinitiative atourtoraiseresourcesforamaternityclinicinSierraLeone.

WithlessthanhalfofbirthsinsubSaharanAfricaattendedbyskilledhealthpersonnel,therisksduring

child birth are considerable. The dangers are especially great in Sierra Leonewhich has theworlds

highestratioofmaternalmortalityandoneofthehighestglobalratesofinfantmortality.

NurseMidwife Mary Koroma will be headlining AAPDEPs Stop the Hemorrhaging! fundraising tour

duringBlackHistoryMonth.Shehasdedicatedhercareertocombatingthisthreat inhernativeSierra

Leone bysettingupasimpleclinicinalocalvillageandtrainingtraditionalbirthattendantsfromnearby

communities.

Aswellasgeneratingfundstobuildaclinicthistouraimstoraiseawarenessoftheissueofinfantand

maternalmortality,whichaffectsAfricanwomenmore thananyother race evenhere in theUnited

States.

AAPDEPislookingforindividualsorgroupswhoareinterestedinbringingNurseMaryandotherexperts

totheircitytospeakaboutthisseriousproblemandsomeofthefactorsbehindit.

Pleasecontactinfo@developmentforafrica.orgorcall2562811344tolearnmoreabouttheprojectand

bringingNurseMarytoyourcity.

LetsworktogethertoStoptheHemorrhaging!

AishaFields,PhD

AAPDEPInternationalDirector


3/9

NurseMidwifeMaryKoroma

Nurse Mary Koroma will be headlining the Stop the

HemorrhagingTour.NurseMaryhasdedicatedher life to

saving those of mothers and babies in her native Sierra

Leone.SheisacertifiedNurseMidwifewhosteppeddown

fromhersecurepositioninagovernmenthospitaltowork

withinthe

communities

most

in

need.

With

few

able

to

afford even government healthcare she saw how many

expectantwomenand infantswere senselesslydyingand

sufferingduetoaninabilitytoaccessprofessionalcare.As

anursemidwife,whosejobitistosavelivesandbringnew

life into theworld, she could no longer be a part of an

apparatus thatcontributed to thedeathsof thousandsof

womenandchildren.

Motivatedby selfdeterminationandwillingness touseher skills for thepurpose theywere intended

for,Nurse

Mary

erected

amake

shift

clinic

in

an

Allentown

Community.

Her

facility

is

just

sticks,

dirt

floor and a straw bed but she cares for the people who cannot travel the long distances to the

governmenthospitals.Shehasdeliveredover3000babies inhercareerand isacontinuedresourceto

hercommunity;acommunity thatnotonlydependsonher for infantandmaternalcarebutalso for

generalmedicalcare.

NurseMary recognizes that theproblemof infantandmaternalmortality is toowidespread tosolve

alone.However,withaccesstoskilledhealthpersonnelsolimitedin SierraLeonemanyfamiliesrelyon

traditionalbirthattendantswhooftendonothavethetrainingtoadequatelydealwithcomplications.In

additiontotheworkinherAllentownclinic,NurseMaryprovidessupportandtrainingtoanetworkof

birthattendants

in

order

to

ensure

that

as

many

women

as

possible

have

access

to

the

care

they

deserve.

HerdedicationandexpertiseserveasanexampleandAAPDEP isproudtopartnerwithhertofurther

thedreamofselfdeterminationforAfricanwomenandchildren.


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InfantandMaternalMortality:AwaronAfricanmothersandbabies

Childbirthshouldbeamiraculoustimeinthelivesofanyfamily.Unfortunately,inpracticethis

failstobethecaseformanyAfricanfamilies.InsteadAfricanmothersareoftenfacedwiththe

heartbreaking knowledge thateither theyor theirbabiesmaydieduring aprocesswhich is

meanttogivelife.

WomeninsubSaharanAfricaaremorelikelytodieduringchildbirththanthose inanyother

region,witharate100timesgreaterthanthatofdevelopedcountries. BabiesinsubSaharan

Africa are also least expected to liveuntil the age of one with almost 1 in 10 infantsnot

surviving, a figure which does not take into account the disproportionate number of

miscarriagesand

still

births.

With

less

than

half

of

births

attended

by

skilled

health

personnel,

manymothersandbabiesaredyingfromcomplicationswhichcouldbeeasilydealtwithgiven

the right skills and equipment. Since hospitals are often inaccessible, both due to physical

distance and a lack of funds to pay for services, many families rely on traditional birth

attendantswhooftendonothavethetrainingtodealwithdifficulties.

Datasource:UNMDGs;MapbyAAPDEP


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TheAAPDEPFundraisingTour:

Thedangerof infantandmaternalmortalityisespeciallygreatinSierraLeone,whichremains

impoverisheddespiteitswealthofnaturalandhumanresources.SierraLeonehastheworlds

highestratioofmaternalmortalitywith1in8womenatriskofdyingduringchildbirth.Italso

has one of the highest global rates of infant mortality with 123 of every 1000 babies not

survivingtotheageofone.

NurseMidwifeMaryKoroma,whowillbeheadliningafundraisingtour intheUSduringBlack

HistoryMonth,hasdedicatedhercareertocombatingthisthreat bysettingupasimpleclinic

in a local village and training traditional birth attendants from nearby communities. Funds

raisedfrom

the

Stop

the

Hemorrhaging!

Tour

will

be

used

to

build

aclinic

in

Sierra

Leone.

AAPDEPwillbebringingNurseMarytotheUnitedStatestotrainwithAfricanmidwiveshereon

thebasictechniquesthatcouldmeanthedifferencebetween lifeanddeathformothersand

babiesinthevillagesinwhichsheworks.NurseMarywillthenreturntoSierraLeonetopasson

thisknowledgetohernetworkofbirthattendants.

MaternalMortalityintheUnitedStates:

Far from being an issue only facing Africans on the continent, maternal mortality plagues

Africanwomenwherever they are located.Despite the stolenwealth of theUnited States,

which ranks it as theworlds richest country,women inAmerica face a greater lifetime risk


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duringchildbirththanthosein40othercountries anditiswomenofcolorwhobearthebrunt

ofthis

risk.

African

women

in

the

US

are

four

times

more

likely

to

die

of

pregnancy

related

complications thanwhitewomen,withAfricanbabiesdying atmore than twice the rateof

whiteinfants.InWashingtonDC,whichhasamajorityblackpopulation,womenarealmost30

timesmore likely to die than inMaine.Many of these deaths are attributable to systemic

barriers tohealthcare in theUS,withAmnesty International, the human rightsorganization

statingthatnearlyhalfofthesematernaldeathsarepreventable.

SelfDeterminationforAfricanFamilies:

Sohowdoweovercomethesehighratesofinfantandmaternalmortalityandcombatwhatis

essentially themost significant human rights violation impactingAfrican families? Formany

charityorganizations andeven governments, the response is to implement isolatedprojects

aimed at relieving these conditions in certain areas. While this strategy may impart a

temporaryreprieve itdoes littletocombattheunderlyingcausesofthiswarbeingwagedon

Africanwomenandbabies.Acharityapproachdoesnotaddressthecontradictionatthecore


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ofthisissue.Onacontinentwithsomuchwealthandresources howcanwomenandchildren

stillbe

dying

of

easily

preventable

complications?

Where

does

this

wealth

go

ifit

is

not

being

directedatthemostbasicneedsofacommunity?TheAllAfricanPeoplesDevelopmentand

EmpowermentProjectrecognizesthatAfricanselfdeterminationistheonlysustainableoption

forreversingtheseconditions.

AAPDEP is looking for individuals or groupswho are interested in bringingNurseMary and

other experts to their city to speak about this serious problem and further explore these

contradictions.LetsworktogethertoStoptheHemorrhaging!

Please contact [email protected] call2562811344 to learnmoreabout the

projectand

bringing

Nurse

Mary

to

your

city.

LearnmoreaboutAAPDEPsworkatwww.developmentforafrica.org


8/9

Article from MedicalNewsToday.com

Most Maternal Deaths In Sub-Saharan Africa Could Be Avoided

19 Feb 2010

"Maternal mortality is a good indicator of a country's healthcare situation and of the inequalities betweenmen and women", Jos Luis Alvarez, the lead author of this study and a researcher at the URCJ in Madrid,tells SINC.

The objective of this research, published in the journal BMC Public Health was to quantify the specificweight of maternal mortality in sub-Saharan African and to determine the healthcare, cultural andeconomic factors involved in this.

Data obtained from 45 African countries between 1997 and 2006 from the World Health Organization(WHO), the World Bank, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP) were studied.

"Despite the significant differences between countries, the number of maternal deaths was high in all ofthem, at an average of 885 deaths for each 100,000 births, but these women are not dying as a result of anydisease, but just from normal biological processes", says lvarez.

The main causes of death are haemorrhaging (34%), infection (10%), pre-eclampsia (9%) and obstructionduring birth (4%). These figures differ from those in industrialised countries, where death from

haemorrhaging accounts for 13% of deaths. There are also indirect causes that, although they are notcomplications relating to the birth itself, become worse over the course of the pregnancy and cause 20% ofthe deaths.

The results of this study show that an effective and efficient health system, especially during pregnancyand birth, are fundamental cornerstones of maternal health, along with access to clean drinking water.

The research team also observed a positive relationship with economic and educational factors, leading theauthors to say "it will be very difficult to improve health without taking both these factors intoconsideration". "Education, above all for women, is higher in countries with a lower maternal mortalityrate", concludes lvarez.

Maternal mortality around the world

In 2000, the United Nations estimated that the number of women who died during pregnancy or shortlyafter birth at 529,000 (almost one maternal death per minute), of which less than 1% occurred inindustrialised countries. The majority of the causes of these deaths have been medically preventable fordecades, and do not usually occur during the birth itself, but in the days afterwards.


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The main reasons why pregnant women do not attend health centres to receive maternal-infant care,especially in rural areas, are the cost, fear, having previously received poor treatment, the waiting times,shame and the distance to the closest health centre.

According to the United Nations, the three countries with the highest maternal death rates are India(136,000), Nigeria (37,000) and Afghanistan (20,000). The highest maternal mortality rates are in SierraLeone and Afghanistan, with 2,000 and 1,900 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births, respectively.The lowest rates are in Australia and Iceland, at four and 10, respectively.

In 2003, the WHO, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) produced the worldmaternal mortality index. The average in Africa is 400 deaths for every 100,000 live births, in

industrialised countries 20 per 100,000, and in developing countries 440 per 100,000.

Source: Plataforma SINC

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179649.php

Documents

AAPDEP's Stop the Hemmorhaging Tour