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How Poverty Affects Pregnancy

How Poverty Affects PregnancyWomen living in poor rural communities have a higher risk of maternal mortality. An astounding 99 percent of maternal deaths take place in developing countries. More than half of these victims lived in sub-Saharan Africa and one-third lived in South Asia.

The number one cause of death for adolescent females in developing countries is complication in reproduction. The risk of death is higher in girls of the age 15 years and younger. Their country’s health systems often fail to provide adequate health services to survive pregnancy and childbirth.

An estimated 75 percent of maternal deaths are caused by:

  • High blood pressure: during pregnancy preeclampsia should be detected and can be remedied with magnesium sulfate.
  • Infections: when recognized in a timely manner, they can be treated, and good hygiene following childbirth can prevent it.
  • Excessive bleeding after childbirth can kill a healthy woman in a matter of hours. To reduce this risk, oxytocin is injected immediately after birth.
  • Diseases such as malaria and AIDS (during pregnancy) account for all other maternal deaths.

Poor Health Systems

In developed countries, it is typical for women to have at least four prenatal care visits. Postpartum care is also recommended and received by high-income countries. Unfortunately for millions of poor mothers, there is no access to skilled providers to help them.

The lack of access to health workers can be due to lack of information or an issue of distance. At times, cultural practices prevent women from getting the care they need, and most often the nearest health facility is in another community.

The World Health Organization is contributing to the Global Strategy to improve health for women and children. Their goal is to ensure access to a better health system with effective treatments, trained health workers, and health coverage programs. Without access to quality health care during these critical times of development, this is another way in how poverty affects pregnancy.

Food Insecurity Impacts Female Health

Food insecurity is another way in which poverty affects pregnancy. Creating a new life requires a lot of energy from a woman’s body. This is why women facing food insecurity are at risk of health problems. A poor diet can cause:

  • gestational diabetes
  • iron deficiency (the mother becomes anemic)
  • low birth weight.

If women do not intake the appropriate amount of nutrients, the baby will take the vitamins and minerals from their mother’s body. This weakens a woman’s immune system which is needed to fight off disease and infection.

The Importance of Nutrition for Child Development

A healthy diet when creating a new life is consuming 1,800 calories a day in the first trimester, 2,200 in the second trimester and 2,400 in the third trimester. Essential nutrients include:

  • calcium for healthy growth
  • iron for a baby’s blood supply and
  • folic acid, which reduces the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly (a brain defect).

Without proper nourishment, a child will suffer from chronic malnutrition. This leads to impaired brain development, a weakened immune system and shorter stature. This could mean that some children will be unable to complete schooling. This is yet another factor in how poverty affects pregnancy.

The USAID study shows that girls with stunted growth have their firstborn at approximately four years younger than non-stunted girls. Additionally, these girls who are not fully developed to give birth to a child contribute to the maternal death rate.

It does not stop there. UNICEF estimates the under-performance of these victims will cost their generation’s global economy $125 billion. The five countries where nearly half the population of children under age five are chronically malnourished include Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Eritrea, Burundi and Timor-Leste.

Overall, without access to a proper health system or proper nutrition, studies indicate the negative ways in how poverty can affect pregnancy. The health of a pregnant woman is vital for childbirth. Prenatal malnutrition stunts the development of children’s bodies and minds. Children can find themselves with learning challenges. This sets generations back from reaching their full potential to advance their communities, fueling the cycle of poverty.

-Crystal Tabares
Photo: Flickr

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UN Report Shows Malnutrition Hurts Ghana’s Economy

Ghana's EconomyA new report by the United Nations concluded that widespread child under-nutrition has taken a toll on Ghana’s economy. The report, The Cost of Hunger in Africa: Social and Economic Impact of Child Undernutrition in Ghana, found that the effects of hunger and stunting cost Ghana $2.6 billion dollars per year.

The report argues that Ghana’s government must make nutrition more of a priority in national development planning in order to improve food security.

Chronic malnutrition and stunting afflicts 19 percent of Ghana’s population and is responsible for 24 percent of all child mortality cases. Some areas face more hunger than others as 30 percent of children under five in Ghana’s northern region are stunted. Stunting occurs when adolescents are severely deprived of critical nutrients, such as proteins and minerals, while in the womb or during the first two years of life. According to the report, 37 percent of Ghana’s adult population suffered from stunting as children.

Malnutrition and stunting have significant long-term consequences on individual development and Ghana’s economy. Chronic health and food insecurity have resulted in higher health care expenses, additional burdens on the national education system and lower productivity by Ghana’s workforce.

The effects of stunting are also felt in Ghana’s educational system. Children who are underfed are more likely to miss, repeat classes and drop out of school. The report estimates that of the current working population aged 20 to 64, 72 percent of people who were stunted as a child completed primary school compared to 80 percent of those who were not stunted.

The report further says that repeating grades “increases the demand that the education system must meet, with the resulting costs in infrastructure, equipment, human resources and educational input.” In 2012, the 19,720 students who repeated a grade cost Ghana’s education system approximately $12.85 million.

Malnutrition also limits adults’ ability to work and contribute to Ghana’s economy. In manual work, such as agriculture, people affected by stunting lack the strength necessary to match the production and efficiency of individuals who are healthier. Non-manual workers who are stunted also produce less output because they received fewer years of schooling than people who were adequately nourished as children.

The U.N. recommends that the government invest more in nutrition policies and interventions to boost the overall health of Ghanaians. Better coordination among national agencies is necessary to create a more concerted approach to providing citizens with better nourishment.

The report notes that forging partnerships with private organizations and non-state actors will help the government “accelerate the development and implementation of malnutrition prevention strategies.”

Health officials can also raise more awareness about ways that people can improve their nutrition and health.

– Sam Turken

Photo: Flickr

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Sustainable Relief: How Helping the Individual Helps the Group

Sustainable_Relief
When fighting poverty, reaching the most people possible with the least amount of resources is the goal of many organizations providing direct help, but this may not be a sustainable relief method.

Most international groups provide relief through vast shipments of medical supplies, food and clean water. Such large-scale approaches do their best to relieve the pressures of malnourishment and poor sanitation, but they are temporary solutions that require constant replenishment.

More sustainable relief methods are being used which empower an individual or a group of individuals to create solutions that are self-sufficient. When one person can resolve their own situation, the group benefits from that individual’s new income, access to food or other general life improvements.

An example of this is the empowerment of Edith, an urban farmer in Zimbabwe. A food shortage in the country has caused many communities to experience stunting in the growth rates of the youth and adults. According to ONE, an organization working to end preventable disease and extreme poverty in Africa, “less than a fifth of children [in Zimbabwe] under two receive the recommended minimum acceptable diet for adequate nutrition.” The result has been that “28 percent [of children in Zimbabwe] are stunted or have heights too low for their age.”

Directly providing the proper nutrients to the individuals that need them is a big challenge. Instead of large-scale international shipments, local projects financed by the U.N. are empowering individual farmers in the community, like Edith, to provide the necessary food to her peers. Without the financial aid of the U.N., “we cannot afford to water our home gardens as the municipality imposes stiff penalties on excessive water use,” she says.

Edith is part of a program that provides small community farmers with the appropriate seeds and tools like a solar-powered borehole. With the new machinery, she and a handful of other farmers have successfully reduced the level of malnutrition in her village. “This is certainly boosting not only our purses but most importantly nutrition,” reports Edith.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has endorsed this bottom-up approach as an essential way to reduce poverty. In a paper produced by the organization, individual empowerment is heralded as the key to achieving sustainable development goals. More specifically, these four good donor practices are highlighted by the research:

  • Donors should support “poor people’s rights and access to natural resources.”
  • Donors should support “participatory and accountable knowledge and advisory processes.”
  • Donors should enhance “the participation of poor rural producers in agricultural and related markets.”
  • Donors should support “poor rural people’s participation in policy and governance processes.”

All of these points stress the importance of an individual’s political and economic freedom, allowing them to rise out of poverty on their own. Edith’s story exemplifies the ability of financial empowerment to expand the potential of the individual, ultimately benefiting his or her community as a whole.

– Jacob Hess

Photo: Public Domain Image