Maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Pakistan is 500 deaths per 100,000 births, while it is highest in Balochistan within the country. According to a ministry of health policy paper, one of the major reasons for this high maternal mortality rate is malnutrition, which affects 34 percent of pregnant women.
Around 48 percent of lactating mothers have a calorie intake of 70 percent less than the recommended level. This is bad for the health of the mother as well the baby.
According to the document, another reason is child delivery at home without assistance by trained medical attendants. The MMR is much higher in Pakistan's rural areas as compared to urban areas. The MMR in Karachi is 281 compared to 673 in rural Balochistan, the report said. This is largely due to the fact that skilled medical staff attends a low proportion of births in rural areas.
In addition, 45 percent of Pakistani women suffer from iron deficiency that results in stillbirths, birth defects, mental retardation and infant deaths. Haemorrhage, hypertension, unsafe abortion, infections and prolonged labour are other factors contributing to the higher mortality rate among women in rural areas, the paper adds.
The policy paper suggests that public sector health policy needs to focus on interventions that empower poor women as women's health in Pakistan is closely linked to their socio-economic status. Besides, health indicators for women are poorer than males as far as life expectancy is concerned, and there is a greater probability of deaths for female children than male. The paper points out that Pakistan's health indicators lag behind other developing countries. In addition, these may be linked to inadequate resource allocation that does not consider gender-related issues.
Moreover, sources in the ministry of health said that the National Health Policy aims to reduce the maternal mortality rate to 250 per 100,000 live births by 2010.
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