hi june

women's experiences of childbirth have implications for their health and their babies too.the context in which African women give birth is important to their experience during birth. many reports say that they have lot of negative experiences. iam attaching the summary of a report which i read recently. iam also attaching few references which would help you.

The 66-page report, titled "'Stop Making Excuses': Accountability for Maternal Health Care in South Africa,"revealed that while maternal mortality rates throughout Africa are falling, in South Africa they rose from 150 deaths per 100,000 births in 1998 to 625 in 2007.

The report lists some shocking failures in maternity care that include abuse of pregnant mothers by health staff and very low standards of care in Eastern Cape Province, where women and their babies have a high risk of injury and death.

Several areas of the country experience similar problems to Eastern Cape Province, including negative attitudes by staff, inefficient management and financial administration, no accountability for system failures, and poor quality care.

Human Rights Watch personnel interviewed a large number of women, below are some of the highlighted details from those interviews:

 Women experience verbal and physical abuse. HIV-positive women are commonly taunted by nurses about enjoying sex and blaming them for getting pregnant if they knew about their HIV-status. Many were told they should receive no care because they were migrants. Being shouted at for "messing up" when they bled on the bed during labor, they were ordered to clean it up.

 They were pinched, slapped, and handled roughly during labor.

 Nurses continuously ignored calls for help.

 Serious treatment delays.

few references:

Health Care Women Int. 2010 May;31(5):458-72. doi: 10.1080/07399330903548928.

The experiences of African women giving birth in Brisbane, Australia.

Murray L1, Windsor C, Parker E, Tewfik O.

Sorry earlier i had sent a wrong attachment

pls find the correct one

Thank you Ramasubramaniam Shanthi

Hi

P Okonta. Birthing Positions: Awareness And Preferences Of Pregnant Women In A Developing Country. The Internet Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 2012 Volume 16 Number 1.