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The impact of unregulated fertility on maternal and child survival
Author(s) -
Senanayake P.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/0020-7292(95)02480-z
Subject(s) - medicine , fertility , disadvantage , socioeconomic status , child mortality , family planning , pregnancy , demography , environmental health , population , research methodology , sociology , biology , political science , law , genetics
Almost all maternal and child deaths represent merely the endpoint of the ‘road to death’ — a combination of factors that include high‐risk pregnancy, socioeconomic disadvantage and inadequate health care. Unregulated fertility is the underlying cause of most high‐risk pregnancies. They are: unwanted; in mothers younger than 20 or older than 35; closely spaced; and in women who already have several children. The resulting morbidity and mortality create a cycle of further disadvantage, further increases in child mortality and further high‐risk pregnancies. Family planning is the single most important exit from the ‘road to death.’ Over the past 40 years it has contributed to the worldwide reduction in child mortality, and for every 100 women provided with family planning, a woman's life is saved.