Figures of death

Azerbaijan received another portion of the negative from the Council of Europe. The Commissioner of the Council of Europe on human rights Nils Muižnieks recently released a report on reproductive health and women's rights in Europe. The document, a part of the female population of the continent is deprived of fundamental rights as a result of the policies of its governments. In particular, they are about providing women with modern means of contraception, creating a system that provides cheap access to safe abortions.

Among the countries that have a low rating on the use of modern contraceptives are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report also contains data on maternal mortality. Thus, in Europe in the period 2000-2015. The maternal mortality rate decreased markedly from 33 to 16 deaths per 100,000 births. At the same time, in some European countries this indicator is still high and exceeds by 25 times other places in the region. Among the countries with a high level of maternal mortality are Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia.

However, the CE report with a negative assessment of the state of protecting the health of pregnant women and young mothers in Azerbaijan is not the only document on this topic. Most recently, the Baku office of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said that in recent years there has been a tendency of an increase in the number of premature births in Azerbaijan. In the period 2005-2014, this indicator increased from 1.8% to 2.7%. In 2015, this figure was already 3.7%. A positive aspect is the fact that the number of births at home is reduced from 2.5% in 2008 to 0.9% in 2015. Such births happen today in mountain villages.

Chief adviser of the Baku office of the UNFPA Farid Babayev told local media,

that in order to prevent maternal deaths, an objective assessment of the situation in this area, it is necessary to improve the system of information collection and reporting, to apply the UN methodology for audit of critical conditions in obstetric and gynecological practice in the country. In addition, in order to minimize the cases of anemia in pregnant women (90%, half of whom have combined iron - and folic-deficient genesis), it is advisable to prepare a government program for free provision of pregnant women with iron and folic acid.

During pregnancy women suffer from the deficiency of iron, vitamins, disruption of a number of organs, which leads to bleeding and other pathologies during childbirth and death. Doctors prescribe to women iron medicines, folic acid, vitamins B12 and a number of others. But patients often ignore these recommendations, because these drugs are expensive. In some cases, you need to take these medications before and after the birth. Not every family in the current economic conditions is able to meet the needs of a pregnant woman in medicine, high-calorie food, regular medical examination.

Candidate of Medical Sciences, therapeutist Shamsya Namazli considers the UNFP proposal to implement a program to provide pregnant women with medications in the country. Deficiency of iron and vitamins in the body for pregnant women is risky. A major role in the successful outcome of pregnancy is the regular medical examination. Because during this period many changes take place in the organism of the future mother. Not in time revealed pathology can lead to a fatal outcome during childbirth and after. The main causes of maternal mortality in Azerbaijan are associated with bleeding, hypertension, including severe preeclampsia, eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, sepsis, and embolism.

"Despite the fact that there are women's consultations in the country, most women turn to private clinics. There is an explanation for this - the doctor of the consultation sends the patient to a private clinic, because there is modern equipment, reagents and good specialists. Conditions in public and private clinics are different. As for the countryside, women are rarely seen there by the doctor," Namazli emphasizes.

The chairman of the Commission on assisting at childbirth of the Ministry of Health, Sevinj Mammadova, notes that many women neglect their health, are not examined by specialists, as a result, a number of diseases during prenatal period are hidden, and only during childbirth pop up. When the disease reaches a severe degree of decompensation, it becomes too late, and the help is delayed.

However, the head of the NGO "Clean World" Mehriban Zeynalova points out that the cause of maternal deaths in the country is not only medical errors, which the Ministry of Health keeps silent. The problem is the financial situation of families. According to the rules during pregnancy, a woman is obliged to come to the hospital seven times - once a month.

When the disease reaches a severe degree of decompensation, it becomes too late, and the help is delayed.

However, the head of the NGO "Clean World" Mehriban Zeynalova points out that the cause of maternal deaths in the country is not only medical errors, which the Ministry of Health keeps silent. The problem is the financial situation of families. According to the rules during pregnancy, a woman is obliged to come to the hospital seven times - once a month. Each time women must make tests, consult a doctor. These visits are expensive - within 50-150 manats. For poor families this is an impressive amount. Therefore, they do not attend antenatal care.

"The early antenatal coverage of pregnant women, that is, taking into account up to 12 weeks, is, according to data for 2015, 74.1%. This is an insufficient level. There are no conditions for pregnant women in the country that promote their early conversion to antenatal care," Zeynalova said.

According to the Ministry of Health, 17 cases of maternal death were registered in Azerbaijan in January-September of this year. In 2015, 24 cases of maternal mortality were registered, and in 2016 - 22 cases.