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| The Silent Killer |
Childbirth can be a frightening experience for any woman.
But imagine giving birth alone on the floor of a cowshed, six hours away from the nearest hospital or trained midwife.
That is the reality for millions of women in third world
countries like
Today I met a woman who was in labour for 12 hours without realising she was giving birth.
It is hard to imagine a world where women are not told the simple facts of life, and the gritty details of pregnancy are a shameful secret.
One Nepalese saying goes: "A pregnant woman is like a cow stuck in a ditch."
Thousands of women are stuck in the remote villages that
litter the rocky
The windswept mountains of
This is a world where women do 95 per cent of the domestic work, and 60 per cent of the farming.
Many of the men have gone to work in
Pregnancy is a silent killer in
The nearest hospitals are often a grueling six hour trek through mountainous, rocky terrain – so many women do not have a choice whether to give birth at home or in hospital.
Maternal deaths are almost entirely preventable – 0.14 women
die in the
Unlike big killers like HIV, saving a woman's life through child birth needs just one skilled doctor or nurse with some basic equipment.
A woman's basic right to a safe pregnancy and childbirth is finally being recognized – with the high profile support of Sarah Brown and Naomi Campbell.
But it is up to the world to wonder why this silent killer has not received more funding and recognition in the past – and why the fight for the most basic of women's rights is only just beginning.
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