Maternal Mortality in a Contemporary Social Background

Maternal mortality rates are still surprisingly high, varying from country to country, according to their level of development, from 25 to …700 maternal deaths at 100,000 live births per year. And yet, this index is not well known, in statistics the most frequently used is “infant mortality”. Maternal mortality occurs at a unique, particular moment of human life, when a child is born. This moment is closely linked with the individual’s life within the society. It is the expression of a demographic behavior, of the personal wish to have children, which is also an answer to the social context. Maternal mortality depends on the one hand on genetic factors, on the general state of health, or on the problems which may occur with pregnancy, and which can lead to complications and even to maternal mortality. On the other hand, maternal mortality depends on an “underground” factor at least as important as the first, which is connected to the socio-economic conditions such as: poverty, poor accessibility to health services as well as the underprivileged condition of the woman, her discrimination which is still present, to variable degrees, but practically all over the world. The risk factors of pregnancy, including those of maternal mortality can largely be avoided by medical methods of supervision of the pregnant woman, prevention of possible complications and a permanent pre-natal care. We must not forget the socio-economic methods, less used, but which can yield basic solutions, and an important decrease of maternal mortality in the longterm.

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