KARACHI, Jan 16: Episiotomy, frequently applied to women in Pakistan during births, is unwarranted and unscientific and the practice must be done away with.

This was said by Dr Jeffrey Smith, obstetrician and gynaecologist at the famous John Hopkins University USA, while delivering a lecture on “Preventing- Not Predicting Maternal Deaths in the Developing Countries”.

The occasion was organized by the Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi branch, at the PMA House here on Thursday.

“I challenge all those doctors involved in doing episiotomy which is nothing but an injury inflicted by doctors upon their patients who do not need it,” he said.

Dr Smith said that every year 150 million women gave birth to children across the globe, while some 7.5 million made attempts to get rid of unwanted pregnancies; as a result maternal mortality had reached a critical level with a woman dying in pregnancy-related cases every minute the world over. The situation, he said, would not improve if the governments failed to increase spending on women’s health.

He called for measures to impart education to young girls as it would ultimately ensure the wellbeing of the whole family, a “long term solution of the current problems faced by countries like Pakistan.

Sharon Blake, a midwife at Origan University USA, in her presentation said midwives should replace traditional “Dais” all over the country as in a country like Pakistan their role would be vital for safe motherhood.

She stressed the need for a network of midwives in the country as the most viable and affordable mode to handle the overwhelming death ratio of women in Pakistan, ranked as one of the highest in the region.

QATAR HOSPITAL: A five-day workshop was held at Qatar Hospital, Orangi Town, under the Sindh government project “Women’s Right to Life and Health”, said a statement issued here on Thursday.