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Maternal and child health is a very important subject that must be taken care of, for building strong and sustained health of population. The burden of maternal and child mortality, morbidity and DALYS is declining many nations economic capacity and causes deplorable and endless poor health of reproductive women and their children.
Our vision for women and children health is to improve the health of reproductive women, newborn and children by raising the awareness, providing education, training, and support health professionals to provide the quality of care such as safe childbirths in good conditions which permit that the children are born alive, protected, grow, and develop healthy to their full potential. Hence, ending preventable deaths of women, newborns, children, and adolescents, as well as stillbirths.
Maternal health refers on the women’s health during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. It is also necessary to note that the child health starts at fecundation, pregnancy and childbirth, newborn, infant, toddlerhood, childhood, and adolescence period until their full potential of health and well-being. It is until 15 years old in half adolescence where all children must be pediatrically managed.
In 2000, around 287,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth which was the MMR of 223 per 100 000 live births.
Global Child mortality rate in 2021 was 38 deaths per 1,000 live births while it was 74 deaths per 1,000 live births in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In many countries women are not compliant to the health nutrition while they are pregnant due to lack of knowledge and awareness sessions, as well as the economic means to get the requiring nutrients. The insufficiency of proteins such meat, fish, dairy and minerals such iodine, iron, folate, calcium, and zinc as well as fruits and vegetables can impact negatively maternal and child health. It is, therefore, the cause of pre-eclampsia, anemia, hemorrhage and associated maternal and child death. Moreover, stillbirth, low birthweight, wasting, stunting and psycho-motor development delays become vicious cycle in those countries because of all the repeated errors generation after generation with deplorable health and economic impact in our countries.
Globally, stunting and other form of malnutrition in early life was 22.3 percent (148.1 million) in 2022. While LICs and LMICs combined, the proportion of stunted children increased from 88 percent in 2012 to 90 percent in 2022. The low-birth-weight rate was 84% of the global burden in 2020. Wasting for all under 5 year was around 94 percent in 2022.
All those maternal and child diseases and deaths are preventable and could be avoided through a well-organized effort of public health officials with intersectoral collaboration and people participation. Hence, promoting health of people.
The African Institute of Research for Public Health and Development endeavor is to educate people how to organize their combined less effort for the positive impact on maternal and child health. Joint effort is currently the real way to address maternal and child health issues where the extended strategy is the game changer to improve the health of our mothers and of our children.