Maternal and child health is a crucial aspect of public health in any country. Maternal and child health involves ensuring that mothers and their born and unborn babies are healthy during pregnancy and after birth. Mothers should be protected from diseases such as malaria and other infections that could interfere with the health and growth of their unborn child. Infants should be protected from diseases that could cause death or interrupt their development. Haiti has the highest maternal and child deaths in the western hemisphere. The country has maternal mortality of 350 per 10,000 live births. In Haiti, more women die during the pregnancy period and during child birth than all the countries in the Western Hemisphere (Cianelli et al., 2014). Improving maternal and child health contributes to a healthy population in the globe. Improving maternal and child health improves the population’s immunity to other health complications. Preventing maternal and child deaths by preventable causes during pregnancy and at birth improves the health status of the future generations.
Significance/Prevalence of Maternal and Child Health or Mortality in Haiti
Haiti has the highest maternal and child mortality in the western Hemisphere. There are maternal mortality of 350 per 10,000 live births in Haiti. By 2019, Haiti had infant mortality rate pf 48.2 per 1000 live births (UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2020).
Impact of Maternal and Child Mortality in Haiti
Maternal and child health impacts different aspects of the society including the development of a healthy generation, culture, global health, and improving the population’s immunity to diseases such as malaria, cholera, among other preventable diseases.
Influence of Social Determents of Health for Topic/Country
Poverty, low-skilled personnel, lack of health facilities, and lack of drugs and interventions contribute to the high maternal and child mortality rates in Haiti (Perkins et al., 2017). Due to poverty, the population cannot access quality and timely maternal and child health services in the country. The low numbers of qualifies health professionals such as nurses, trained midwives, and doctors contribute to high maternal and child mortality rates in Haiti.
Influence of Culture for Maternal and Child Health in Haiti on Medical Decision-making/Health Care
Religious and cultural practices and beliefs influence maternal and child health perception and practices in Haiti (Desir, n. d). Haitians prefer traditional and complimentary medicines in addressing the maternal and child health complications. As a result, Haitian mothers do not seek conventional medicines during pregnancy and birth.
Influence of Haiti’s Health System and Policies on Maternal and Child Health
Majority of the health facilities in Haiti are located in urban areas of which only 30 percent are public. As a result, accessibility to maternal health services has remained a huge challenge for Haitian women (Fletcher, 2018). Cost, location, and distance to cover make it a huge challenge to access maternal and child health services in Haiti.
Impact of Maternal and Child Health on global health
Maternal and child health determines the health of future generations across the globe. Maternal and child health determines the future public health challenges that may affect the future generations. Poor maternal and child health expose the world to poverty as resources will be directed to address maternal and child health complications. Maternal and child health determines the world’s ability to fight other outbreaks in the future.
Maternal and Child Health Impacts on Current and Future Global Health Care Need
Maternal and child health determines the current population health care needs in terms of improving healthcare facilities and training of more healthcare professionals to meet these needs. Currently, the world pulls up resources to address the challenges in accessing maternal and child healthcare services (Cianelli et al., 2014). In the future, maternal and child health determine the immunity of the future populations and thus the ability to fight other outbreaks.
References
Cianelli, R., Mitchell, E., Albuja, L., Wilkinson, C., Anglade, D., Chery, M., & Peragallo, N. (2014). Maternal–child health needs assessment in Haiti. International journal of applied science and technology, 4(5), 30.
Desir, J. (n.d). Spiritual Beliefs and Religious and Cultural Practices of Haitian Women in Relation to Maternity. Boston University School of Medicine. Available at: http://www.bumc.bu.edu/gms/maccp/inactive-but-dont-delete/bhlp-research/bhlp-former-research/spiritual-beliefs-and-religious-and-cultural-practices-of-haitian-women-in-relation-to-maternity/.
Fletcher, K. (2018). Maternal and Child Health in Borgne, Haiti. http://www.buffalo.edu/globalhealthequity/student-work/student-projects/student-commentaries-survey-global-health-topics/maternal-and-child-health-in-borgne–haiti.html.
Jacobs, L. D., Judd, T. M., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2016). Addressing the child and maternal mortality crisis in Haiti through a central referral hospital providing countrywide care. The Permanente Journal, 20(2), 59.
Perkins, J et al. (2017). Determinants of Low Maternal and Newborn Health Service Utilization in Haiti: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study. J Womens Health, Issues Care 6:1. doi: 10.4172/2325-9795.1000258.
UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. (2020). Haiti: Infant Mortality Rate. https://childmortality.org/data/Haiti.
