Maternal health in Nepal: Challenges a mother faces when giving birth

Title : Maternal health in Nepal: Challenges a mother faces when giving birth

Abstract:

Those stories showcase the obstacles women in rural areas of Nepal have to face throughout their journey to motherhood. Geographical barriers in remote areas pose immense challenges in accessing healthcare facilities. The lack of transportation infrastructure and difficult terrains often result in delayed or unattended deliveries, placing both the mother and child at risk. These stories also highlight the scarcity of skilled healthcare professionals, such as midwives and obstetricians, leading to a lack of quality prenatal care and safe birthing practices. Cultural beliefs and traditional practices surrounding childbirth sometimes clash with evidence-based healthcare, resulting in women resorting to home deliveries or seeking assistance from untrained birth attendants. Deep-rooted gender inequalities and limited decision-making power further restrict women's autonomy in accessing timely and appropriate healthcare services.
Healthcare professionals working in maternal health face their own set of challenges. These stories also emphasize the powerlessness of health workers as they have to see a lot of challenges and also fee the consequences (poor maternal health, death of neonates child or even death of the mother) because of poor maternal healthcare. These stories from the field indicates that there is a great need for better health care, health workers, ambulance
service in Nepal's maternal health sector. Over the last few years, the Nepalese government has made efforts to increase the number of skilled healthcare professionals and enhance their training to provide safe and respectful care. Community-based initiatives that address cultural norms and empower women to make informed decisions about their health are essential. But we have a long way to go to achieve SDG goal
In conclusion, the stories from the field show a grave reality of maternal health in Nepal. Health workers, health rights activists, social activist and the government should work together to improve mother and child health.

Biography:

Dr. Aruna Uprety is currently working as Executive Director of Rural Health Education Service Trust (RHEST) Nepal. She received her master’s degree in Arts from the Women and Development Institute of Social Studies the Hague, The Netherlands. She did her M.D from Kharkiv State Medical Institute Ukraine (Former Soviet Union). She worked with the Ministry of Health for about 8 years on maternity hospital and family planning projects. Her close hands-on experience in the maternity ward inspired her desire to advocate for women’s rights and health. Uprety was involved with many different Non-governmental organizations, which allowed her to travel to different Nepalese regions. She also worked in Afghanistan, Iran, India, Laos, China, Sri Lanka, Sudan as a public health specialist and gained experience. She learned about problems associated with malnutrition among children and its reasons while working in rural areas of Nepal. She conducted research on reasons for malnutrition and advocated on how to reduce this. She learned about local food, health, cultural practice, and its importance for healthy living. She has written many articles on this issue and has presented her ideas in many national and international seminars.