According to a report presented
by the British based organization-Save the children, Pakistan has the highest
rate of first day deaths and stillbirths at 40.7 per 1,000 births. Moreover in
Pakistan, fewer than half of women have a skilled health worker present at
birth. Their access to proper clinics or health facilities throughout the
pregnancy and at the time of labor is highly limited. And those kids who somehow
survive during delivery die before the age of 5 mostly from preventable causes.
Child mortality still remains one of the greatest shames of our modern world.
Our country especially is in a dire need of such governmental and health reforms
that are aimed at providing better medical facilities, immunization, nutrition,
adequate knowledge and most importantly financial aid to expectant mothers in
order to save thousands of Pakistani children from dying a pointless death just
because of the lack of proper vaccinations or because a trained medical worker
was not available at the time of birth.
A few decades ago Finland also suffered from similar crises. In fact 65 out of
every 1000 babies died. So to cope up with this problem the government started
sending out some card board boxes to all the expectant mothers free of cost.
Each box contained everything a newborn needs like clothing, outerwear, diapers,
toys, books and the bottom of the box was a mattress. Also they added bra pads,
tampons and condoms to suits the mother’s needs. All the women had to do was to
visit a certified doctor after four months of pregnancy to get the box.
Thus this proved to be a genius idea because not only it provided everything a
baby needs in the first few months but it steered new mothers towards prenatal
care. And now Finland has the lowest child mortality rate according to UN.
So following the example of Finland, Pakistan could also work towards decreasing
the child mortality rate. The government could provide all the clinics and
hospitals with these maternity kits so that they can be dispatched to women who
come for their monthly check up since conception. There the medical staff could
also educate the parents regarding proper mother and baby care. Also if active
measures are taken, with the help of charitable organizations significant
discounts could be provided for low income families when it comes to delivery
and maternity services. So that every single child born in this country could
get proper care and attention and parents do not have to suffer the loss of
their new born just because they didn’t have enough money to get to a good
maternity clinic at the time of the birth.