Maternal Mortality and Teenage Girls in Bangladesh

Government figures show that 58% of the girls in Bangladesh below the age of nineteen, or either pregnant or mothers. And UN figures show that it's teenage girls who face three times more risk of maternal mortality than women in their twenties.

Maternal Mortality and Teenage Girls in Bangladesh Male: After her obstetric fistula, Rena had two more children but her husband disowned her. Now whenever she's not at the hospital in Dhaka, she lives with her mother in a village in Narsingdi District, three hours from Dhaka. Rena: My childhood was the best time for me. Before I was married, I was happy. Since I got married, it’s all been downhill. Male: Rena’s mother has had to sell most of her land and livestock to pay the costs of Rena’s treatment. With the family’s funds running out, Rena has given her youngest daughter for adoption. The family has learned the hard way. Rena’s sister Mukhta is already 20, but after the problem her sister faced, she refuses to get married young. Breaking the tradition in villages like this is difficult. Government figure showed that 58% of girls in Bangladesh below the age of 19 are either pregnant or mothers. And UN figures showed that it’s teenage girls who faced three times more risk of maternal mortality and morbidity than women in their 20’s. Joy Phumaphi: In some of the developing countries is part of the culture. It’s part of the anti-development of women, the inequities that exist, the early marriages for young girls that has still anti-developed whose body are not yet ready to give birth. These are the issues that have to be addressed. Female: Yeah, I do wonder what it would be like if I were a man. And I know that if I were a man, I wouldn’t treat another woman like this. Since I've been treated this way, I'm sure I would never treat another woman like this. Male: Each cultural practices like the social precious for early marriage of girls that are the root cause of the high maternal mortality rate in South Asia as well as for some of the lowest levels of education, health and nutrition for girls and women. Religiously, these are aware of the issues and say that religion should be no barrier to women’s rights. Male: I think the right given to women in Islam to perceive the rights given to them by any other religion that I am aware of. Men and women complete one another and make each other whole. Men cannot, without the help of women create to administer a nation of community or a family. Quite similarly, women cannot perform their duty without the assistance of men. But together they can make a home, a society or a country, beautiful, truthful and functional. For this reason, men have a lot of responsibilities towards women. Male: Bangladesh has made significant progress recently in reducing maternal mortality. According to the UN Population Fund, the number of women dying in childbirth has almost halved in the last 13 years down from 60 to 32 out of every 10,000 deliveries. One of the governments’ first steps was to focus on empowerment of women and invest heavily in girls and adolescent education. Primary and secondary enrolment of girls went up dramatically. For the first time ever, more girls than boys now attend both primary and secondary school. And in the rural areas, the governments also training skilled birth attendance and community midwives to perform safer deliveries and teaching them to refer complicated cases to help facilities. Joy Phumaphi: Over the last ten years, maternal mortality reduction has not reduced. We are going to lose a woman to maternal mortality at the rate of one per minute. This is unforgivable because the interventions that are quite to save these women’s lives are available. And there are known to the global health community. They are easy to implement and they can become a typical part of any health system no matter how poor the country. It is a question of priorities. Even for the developing economies. So that I believe that it is feasible. It is possible if the countries wanted badly enough.