KARACHI, May 2: Terming safe pregnancy and careful delivery of babies a basic right of every woman, experts have demanded provision for round- the- clock emergency maternity and obstetric care at all the primary and tertiary healthcare outlets of the country.

Experts, pointing out that 30 women died per minute in the country due to child birth complications, with a much larger number getting disabled due to non-availability of timely and quality medical intervention, mentioned that only five per cent of local healthcare facilities had provision for EmoC.

It stated that one fourth of all maternal deaths were found to be of those women who despite reaching the healthcare outlet could not be attended to owing to absence of trained personnel, besides non-availability of required gadgets and relevant material support.

A recent instance was also cited where in Karachi a public sector maternal healthcare centre was found to be simply abandoned by its own staffers.

With regard to the impact of violence on expecting mothers, the experts maintained that 15 per cent of all maternal deaths were due to the violence these women were exposed to. Experts regretted that somehow and very often the fact was ignored by the medical community itself.—APP