KARACHI, May 21: Anyone, anywhere having a little bit of extra money can open a maternity home regardless of whether he or she is competent to open one or if the necessary infrastructure has been made available first, said a well-known gynaecologist on Tuesday.
Talking to a group of journalists at a seminar, Dr Sadiqua Jafarey said no individual or organization ever interviewed a person desirous of opening a maternity home. As a result, there was a mushroom growth in the number of privately-run maternity homes, or for that matter, clinics and hospitals.
And as there were no guidelines in this regard, the people opening maternity homes got away with a lot of deficiencies. Answering a question, she said the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council was primarily concerned with regulating and monitoring medical education, not medical practice.
She was of the view that the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists could play a role in this regard. Dr Jafarey agreed with the contention that proper guidelines should be formulated regarding the establishment of maternity homes. “And of course after establishment, the performance of the homes should also be monitored closely by an agency.”
Earlier, in her speech as president of the National Committee for Maternal Health at the seminar, organized in collaboration with Unicef, Dr Jafarey said 25,000 to 30,000 women died every year due to complications during pregnancy. The major complications after which a pregnant woman could lose her life were: haemorrhage, usually after birth; hypertension; infection or sepsis; obstructed or difficult labour, and; abortion.
To the surprise of the audience, Dr Sadiqua Jafarey said 11 per cent of the women who lost their lives during pregnancy did so due to complications arising out of abortions which were not often carried out by qualified professionals. She spoke at length about faecal and urinary fistulae which could arise in cases of obstructed and prolonged labour.
Elaborating, she said if a labour lasted for more than 12 hours, the membrane separating the urinary system and uterus could get punctured.
“Once this complication arises, the affected woman passes urine all the time through the uterus. This is extremely unseemly and should be avoided at all costs.”
Dr Jafarey said bleeding after delivery accounted for 11 per cent of the cases in which women lost their lives. “Similarly, 18.7 per cent of pregnant women who die do so due to hypertension.”
Diverting her attention to a related issue of importance, she said for every woman who died due to pregnancy related causes, there were 20 to 30 women who suffered short-term and long-term disabilities.
A study undertaken in Bangladesh had shown that 80 per cent of the newborn child died within two months of his or her mother’s death, she added.
Dr Shershah Syed on the occasion pointed out that urinary and faecal fistulae was treatable in 90 per cent of the cases. He gave instances in which his team had repaired the wall damage to which had caused fistulae.
He particularly mentioned the services of Prof John Kelley who visited Pakistan regularly to repair such membranes.
Nighat Saeed Khan presented a report on the activities of the National Committee for Maternal Health. She told all those present that a manual had been drafted on Emergency Obstetrical Care.
She said the committee was formulating a programme for the training of birth attendants and midwives. Dr Kaukab Ansari also spoke on the occasion. The proceedings were conducted by Dr Azra Ahsan.
