Maternal health
Maternal means related to mother. Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. Inadequate maternal health care will lead to miscarriages or premature childbirth, so proper health care is a must to have a safe delivery and it reduces the risk of infection and disease after delivery.
Why is it important to have good maternal health?
Having good maternal health is important for a woman because when she is in a state of pregnancy or after the delivery period she needs a lot of care to prevent herself from various infections and complications. Before she Gives birth to a child she requires precautions and proper medicines to have a safe delivery or after childbirth she needs more care because she gives a part of her body to the outside world, she is weak at that point and has a higher risk to surrounding by diseases so she requires proper care for herself to maintain her health and if she is well then she can feed her baby properly.
During pregnancy, a woman goes through one of the important phases of her life. She experiences a lot of changes in her body which can affect her and her child's health. Precautions, proper diet, proper sleep, appropriate medicines, healthy and happy lifestyle are the basic factors a woman should keep in mind during her pregnancy time to keep herself and her child safe.
What are the factors affecting maternal health?
- Age: Age is an important factor that affects the maternal health of a woman as after the age of thirty the risk of developing infections and other diseases increases which affects both mother and child's health.
- Food: Food that the mother eats affects both mother and child. If she eats healthy food and takes proper precautions then it will be healthy for both mother and child but if she eats unhygienic food, intake of alcohol, cigarettes, etc it will hurt both mother and child's health.
- Obesity: obesity is a state of overweightness. It will cause a lot of diseases like heart attack, high blood pressure, and many others.
- Unsafe sex: If the partner has a reproductive system disease like AIDS/HIV then it will infect a female fetus which is not good for her and the child's health.
- Poverty: poverty leads to inadequate healthcare access to a woman like not having regular and proper checkups and unavailability of medicines which impact her health.
Common maternal health issues
- High blood pressure: It is a condition where blood flow is reduced because arteries that supply blood get narrowed and reduced blood flow slows the foetus's growth which increases the risk of birth of a premature child or abortion.
- Infections: Infections in pregnant women can cause transfer to the child which affects their health and will lead to issues after postnatal.
- Stress, Anxiety, and depression: Stress, Anxiety, and depression can result in complications while giving birth to a child or make her feel depressed and unhappy which can be shown in that child too.
- Anemia: A woman's body produces more blood at the time of pregnancy for the growth of the baby so if a woman has iron deficiency then it will not properly help in the growth of the child which makes him weak or results in rebirth.
- Excess vomiting: Felling nausea or vomiting is normal during pregnancy time but if a woman is having a lot of vomiting then it's not a good sign for her health.
Difficulties women face during pregnancy
If a baby is born too early within 37 weeks of pregnancy duration then it is termed premature childbirth or preterm birth. In this, some bodies of the baby are not completely developed which results in a higher rate of deaths and disabilities among that child.
Women complain about constipation, morning sickness, swollen feet, changes in skin, rashes, vaginal discharge, pain management, back pain, headache, and frequent need to pee during pregnancy.
Suggestions to improve maternal health
- Follow proper precautions and health care advice given by the doctor.
- Proper and sufficient intake of vitamins and nutrients.
- Create awareness among women related to their health.
- Do not follow any kind of advice blindly.
- Take proper and adequate amounts of sleep.
- Do not take alcohol, cigarettes, or any other harmful product during pregnancy.
Many maternity deaths happening these days are from that issues can be prevented by providing proper healthcare facilities available to women. Maternal health is very important for a woman as she is going to give birth to a new child, a new life
A Dynamiclady ~ Anshika Rajput
contact - anshika@dynamiclady.in