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A time to think of less fortunate moms and kids

With Mother’s Day coming soon, Dr. Judith Reichman urges attention to the plight of Third World women and their children.

There’s no doubt about it — giving birth and being the mother of an infant is a hard job. In general, though, the experiences of American moms and kids are a whole lot more joyful than that of many of their counterparts in poorer parts of the world.  With Mother’s Day just around the corner — and with mothers and children as the theme of the recent World Health Day — I’d like to take a break from our usual Q&A format to address something dear to my heart: maternal and infant health among the less fortunate.

When the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Southeast Asia on December 26, the rest of the world looked on in horror as the death toll climbed into the hundreds of thousands. Many of those victims were children.

But there is a silent tsunami spreading around the world that began long before the tragedy of that day, and it continues unabated. It is this: Every year, half a million women die during pregnancy and childbirth, and nearly 11 million children die before celebrating their fifth birthday (with about 4 million of those being neonatal deaths, meaning they occur within the first 28 days of life).

So much of this loss of life is preventable. More than half of the world’s neonatal deaths each year can be avoided by doing very simple things such as keeping infants warm after delivery and cutting their umbilical cords with sterile blades. Nearly 50 percent of neonatal deaths are caused by one of three treatable disorders:  infections, tetanus and diarrhea. Dying of such causes here in the United States is almost unheard of.

Ninety-nine percent of maternal and infant deaths take place in the developing world, mainly sub-Saharan African and south-central Asia. The silence of those of us who are have the great fortune to live in our developed and wealthy nation seems to indicate that the life of a child in a low-income country is worth less than that of a child here.

As a mother, a woman and a doctor, I cannot believe that we mean to be callous, that we lack compassion. Most of us just don’t know. We have not given names or faces to these children and so they remain non-existent in our minds.

Fortunately, there are those who are working to change this bleak reality. As a board member of Save the Children, I have seen firsthand what can be accomplished when a dedicated group of people takes action to protect mothers and their children. We have far to go, but understanding and recognizing the problem is an important first step.

We must also realize that the problems don’t begin in the delivery room. Maternal health and healthcare are probably the two most important factors in infant survival, and both of those things start long before pregnancy. Females tend not to get adequate nutrition. They need to be immunized and educated on an equal level with their male counterparts. They need to be empowered when it comes to marriage and family planning.

Recent studies by major world health organizations show that over her lifetime a woman in sub-Saharan African has a one in 16 chance of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. By comparison, the risk of a woman in a developed region is one in 2,800.

Reducing the number of women dying in childbirth by three-quarters by 2015 is one of the key goals of the Millennium Declaration. This goal was formulated by world leaders from 189 countries at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, and it is not nearly as formidable as it seems. In fact, much can be done through straightforward, low-cost means — from increasing the number of skilled birth attendants in rural areas, to providing basic vitamin supplements to expectant mothers, to distributing hats to keep infants warm.

Here in the U.S., we have the opportunity to celebrate our pregnancy and childbirth. We can look forward to motherhood as we are treated by skilled doctors, informed with easy -to -access information and delivered in birthing facilities that are the envy of much of the world. We often take this high level of care for granted, and ignore the fact that for so many women pregnancy is a struggle to survive, both for themselves and for their babies.

As we prepare to celebrate our mothers and our own unique and wonderful ability to be the mothers of healthy children, let’s take the time to remember the silent loss of child and maternal life that is the norm for so much of the world.

Monetary donations to non-government organizations working to help women and children can go a long way. We also have to let our government officials know we care, and that they, too, should care enough to wisely allocate our funds. 

These women and children have names and faces. Their anguish is no less than ours would be in threatened circumstances. They deserve to be protected and like us, celebrated, on Mother’s Day and every other day of the year.  — Judith Reichman, MD

Dr. Judith Reichman, the “Today” show's medical contributor on women's health, has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for more than 20 years. You will find many answers to your questions in her latest book, "Slow Your Clock Down: The Complete Guide to a Healthy, Younger You," which is now available in paperback. It is published by William Morrow, a division of .

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this column should not be construed as providing specific medical advice, but rather to offer readers information to better understand their lives and health. It is not intended to provide an alternative to professional treatment or to replace the services of a physician.