The rate of women dying in childbirth in West African countries hit by the Ebola epidemic is soaring, with as many as one in seven at risk of death as fear of contact with bodily fluids prevents people helping them, aid charities warned on Tuesday. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 800,000 women in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are due to give birth in the next 12 months. Of these, some 120,000 could face life-threatening complications if they dont get the emergency care they need and tens of thousands could die, according to the DEC group of 13 leading UK charities, including Save The Children and ActionAid. Korto Williams, head of ActionAid in Liberia, said many women were being left to give birth alone because stigma and ignorance meant people around them feared they might have Ebola and stayed away. Too many women have died because of lack of care, she said, adding video clips on the internet show women giving birth in the streets of Monrovia with no one helping. She said the horrendous prediction of one in seven women dying in childbirth was a worst case scenario but added: We have to do more to ... stop this coming true. We have to ensure that pregnant women get the care they urgently need or we will see the rate of maternal deaths skyrocket. ~LA huffingtonpost/2014/11/11/pregnant-women-ebola_n_6136536.html?cps=gravity
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:00:02 +0000
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