More skilled attendants needed to reduce maternal mortality

NAIROBI, May 9, 2011 (IPS) – Sub-Saharan African countries have claimed nine of the ten bottom places in a ranking of maternal health around the world. “The Mothers’ Index”, a new survey of motherhood by Save the Children, analyses health, education and economic conditions for women and children in 164 countries.

“Ironically, it is in giving birth – and multiple births for that matter – that a woman nears an approximate of the ideal of a wife,” says Kolorinda James, a traditional birth attendant (TBA) in Juba, South Sudan. “Children are considered to be a sign of wealth. It is a case of the content being valued much more than the container – as thousands of women in this region continue to die from pregnancy related complications.”   Read more.