Speaking at a celebration of International Day of Midwives, Afghan Minister of Public Health (MoPH) Suraya Dalil said the maternal and infant mortality rate decreased in 2014.
Minister Dalil added that the number of midwives must increase in order to continue to drop the rates of maternal and infant death across the country.
She said out of 100,000 pregnancies in the past, 1,600 were fatal, but that now, the rate has dropped to 327.
“The statistics show that maternal mortality has decreased in Afghanistan,” Ms. Dalil said. “1,600 mothers had lost their lives while delivering; now 327 mothers are losing their lives.”
According to Dalil, for most of the past 10 years, every 27 minutes a woman would die giving birth. Today, she said, an Afghan woman dies giving birth every two hours.
“3,500 midwives are providing health care services throughout the country; this number needs to grow to 7,000 to cut the mortality rate,” she said.
Afghan Midwives Association (AMA) urged the government to invest more in education for midwives in order to deliver the best health care services to Afghan women possible.
Tolonews
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