Maternal death represents the greatest disparity between developed and developing countries. Almost all maternal deaths (95%) occur in Africa and Asia. In her lifetime, a woman in sub-Saharan Africa faces a 1 in 16 risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth as compared to a 1 in 2800 risk in countries such as the U.S. In Ghana, an estimated 56% of mothers give birth without the assistance of a skilled birth attendant and 214 women die for every 100,000 women who give birth – compared to 8 per 100,000 in developed countries such as the U.S. Additionally, the life time risk of a woman dying while pregnant or giving birth is 1 in 35 in Ghana.
Okay, enough with the grad school statistics, but they are important in giving an idea of why I am going to Ghana and the importance of this research.
I’m going to Ghana. Woot! I’ve been trying to get to Africa for what feels like my whole life. And I couldn’t be more excited to be going to Ghana to research my passion – global reproductive health. I’ll be spending ten weeks collecting data at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi – the second largest city in Ghana – with four other students from the University of Michigan. This is my summer internship for my master's degree in public health.
We will be recording all of the women who come to the hospital to give birth. But what we are really interested in is the women who come in with serious labor complications. We will conduct interviews with these women to try and identify what may have led to the seriousness of the complications. For instance, some women who live outside of Kumasi may have had to walk 10-20 kilometers to reach our hospital after they went into labor. Our goal is to collect enough interviews to create a picture of the main risk factors that lead to labor complications at this hospital, so that a prevention program can be created to reduce the number of maternal deaths and disability associated with pregnancy and labor in Ghana.
After my ten weeks in Ghana, I will fly to Cairo for a ten day traveling adventure. I had wanted to go visit Tanzania or Kenya, but it is incredibly expensive to fly even within Africa. But I got a great deal on a flight to Egypt, and am thrilled to see the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and float down the Nile. As of now, I'm traveling by myself- anyone care to join me from July 25th to August 5th?
Africa, I've waited a long time to see you. Ready or not, here I come!
