'Every woman counts', childbirth and maternal mortality in Pakistan (42 images)

"Every woman counts"

A haven for militant Islamic extremists, Pakistan has recently become one of the most dangerous countries in the world. It struggles under a corrupt political regime and a system that largely depends on feudal customs.
Women face an array of problems and gender discrimination that stems from birth. In most families a son is preferable to a daughter. A woman often has no choice in partner, she risks being killed by her own family for...
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"Every woman counts"

A haven for militant Islamic extremists, Pakistan has recently become one of the most dangerous countries in the world. It struggles under a corrupt political regime and a system that largely depends on feudal customs.
Women face an array of problems and gender discrimination that stems from birth. In most families a son is preferable to a daughter. A woman often has no choice in partner, she risks being killed by her own family for dishonouring them or being disfigured by having acid thrown at her.
In rural regions girls are not often allowed to attend school and receive an education. Marriage at a very young age and frequent pregnancies closely spaced together contribute to a high maternal mortality rate.
I visited Pakistan for the first time in November 2009 with the intent of addressing these different women's rights issues. Soon after meeting Dr. Shershah Syed, a gynaecologist and women's rights activist, I decided to focus my attention on maternal mortality and childbirth alone. Seeing the challenges that these women were facing with my own eyes made me realize how important it is to tell their story.
Pakistan loses one women every 30 minutes to preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth, while about 3,000 cases of obstetric fistula occur each year in the country. One in every eleven children born in Pakistan dies before his or her fifth birthday. It's estimated that around 52% of women in Pakistan give birth at home, usually without skilled or trained birth attendants.
Heartbreakingly, most of the deaths and complications surrounding childbirth are treatable. Young women die because they have no access to sufficiently equipped medical facilities, or because the traditional midwife (dai) doesn't refer the women in time to the hospitals when complications arise and a caesarean section is needed. In a place where poverty is rife, most families can't afford the medicine or care they require.
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