Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan

Pre-Soviet occupation and Taliban rule Afghanistan was an industrious country known for it's magnificent beauty, both natural and architectural, and unparalleled hospitality (especially towards foreigners). Now, the country lies in shambles. Over half it's 29 million residents have been displaced due to war, the country (only about the size of Texas) is $8 billion dollars in debt and needs and estimated $25 billion to recover, civilians are still terrorized by lingering Taliban forces, the general health of the population is dismal and women struggle to gain access to basic human rights denied by them by cultural norms. Unfortunately the country is now in such disarray from 25+ years of war that important health issues are overshadowed by political and economic concerns. While this country fights to return to the normalcy it once knew it's people continue to suffer, most especially the women:

• In a study in 2007, 70% to 80% of Afghan women face forced marriages and 57% of all girls are married before the legal marriage age of 16 (many around the age of 13). Two thirds of Afghani women have their first child between 13 and 19 years old.
  
• A study of 4.886 Afghani women found that 86% of those surveyed indicate that women should have the right to enter marriage freely, they also found that 80% expressed the view that it is the wife’s duty to have sex with her husband even if she does not want to and that 45% agreed that a man has the right to beat his wife if she disobeys him. Is it any wonder that Afghanistan is the only country with a female suicide rate higher than that of males?
• If you are a woman in Afghanistan, and literate, you are in the 75th percentile - result of Taliban restriction of all forms of education to females.
• Under Taliban rule women were forced to wear the oppressive burqa - they were allowed to show no part of their face or body. Violators of this 'law' were put to death, often publicly.
  
• Rape, abuse (both physical and mental) and slave-like conditions of women and children are common place and go unpunished and often even unnoticed.
  
• A woman dies from childbirth, either directly or indirectly, every 27 minutes in Afghanistan (remember the entire country is only about the size and population of Texas).
• The maternal mortality rate for Afghanistan is 1900 deaths per 100.000 live births...that is 1 in 9. Think about it, do you know at least 9 women who have given birth? How many of them would have survived according to the Afghan standard. In other words, an Afghani woman is 211 times more likely to die during childbirth, or shortly thereafter due to complications, than a woman in the U.S.
• Who teaches children to take care of themselves? Who watches over and protects them? Who are the ones that teach pure morals and ethics to children? What happens to a motherless society? One in three Afghan children is an orphan.

It is through the work of organizations like RAWA, midwifeassist.org and REACH that these issues are starting to be addressed. The work of theses NGO's focus on training and deployment of skilled midwives into rural or other areas. The work of these women is of the utmost importance as they battle one of Afghanistan's most horrific health problems and fight to save lives of thousands of mothers.

I encourage you to learn more about this topic - it is only one in an immense sea of global health issues plaguing our earth. Most often it is the most defenseless that are most effected by these grave issues. Never feel like you cannot make a difference. Inform yourself and find a way to help...there is always a need.