Allen1

Kirstie Allen
SOC 365
Essay two
May 19th, 2014
South Sudan and Maternal Mortality
South Sudan has the highest rate of maternal mortality world-wide. Maternal mortality is
the death of a woman while pregnant or during child birth who suffers accidental or incidental
causes. South Sudan is located in central Africa, with a total population of an approximately
10.84 million people. The life expectancy in this county is estimated to be sixty-two years-old in
adults. While in children and infants, they are at a death rate of 103 per 1,000. Maternal
mortality in South Sudan is at an astonishing high rate of 2,054 maternal deaths per 100,000 live
births. While in the United States, the maternal mortality rate is 21 maternal deaths per 100,000
live births to put in perspective. In South Sudan, each mother has a one in seven chance of
dying during child birth. Within this country, the risk of maternal mortality is due to the lack of
education about reproduction and their maternal health, girls who are not physically mature
enough to become pregnant, and the minimum access to accurate sanitized health care services
nation-wide.
Furthermore, South Sudan has a major shortage of health care attention for women who
are pregnant, giving birth, or women who suffer from abandon care after pregnancy. There is
also a major lack of midwives to help and give care for child bearing mothers and an enormous
shortage of professionals to attain reasonable health care as well. Many health care facilities in
Allen2

South Sudan are at a great distance for some women to travel who do not have reliable
transportation. This phenomenon puts these mothers in a situation to only have the option to give
birth in their own homes, in an unprofessional setting. More women die in child birth, per
capita, in South Sudan, than in any country in the world, says Caroline Delany, a health
specialist with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in South Sudan which is
funding a raft of maternal health programmers (DFATD). This should not be as on-going issue to
these women in this country.
The prevalence of maternal mortality has been a health issue for many decades now in
South Sudan and unfortunately, it is not decreasing at an acceptable rate. Maternal Mortality is
the biggest threat to a womens life. Childbirth and pregnancy, rather than conflict, are the
nations biggest killers of girls and women (IRINnews). This should not be a problem in this
nation but due to negligence of the country as a whole, it is still a current and major difficultly.
South Sudan has been neglected by the global community as a whole, which causes this country
to have a major lack of human resources for accurate health care. The women and many mothers
in South Sudan suffer from poorly trained low-level professionals with an absolute shortage of
high-level professional staff such as midwives, nurses, medical officers, and pharmaceutical and
laboratory technicians. It is estimated that only about ten percent of staffing norms are filled by
appropriately trained health workers.
Maternal Mortality is an ongoing issue in South Sudan. It is the biggest challenge that
this country has. Some reasons why this is still an ongoing issue is because there is huge shortage
of instruments to give proper care during child birth in a sanitized atmosphere. Also, many
women, if not most, still give birth in their own homes in an un-sanitized condition. They give
birth under such conditions largely because it is their only option. Some women may not
Allen3

understand the complicated cases of child birth and the health facilities are too far to travel to
receive care in the appropriate time during child birth.
Other reasons such as poor transportation, inadequate transport services, distance from
health care facilities and harmful practices all play a big role maternal mortality in South Sudan.
There is also an enormous shortage of education on reproduction in women who are not
physically developed yet to reproduce and girls as young as thirteen who are not yet mature
enough to reproduce in a healthy matter getting pregnant. Many young girls are becoming
pregnant in this country because there is such a lack of education about the importance of proper
reproduction and taking actions on health related troubles. In South Sudan, females only average
six years in school.
Many organizations and many major fundings in South Sudan are some such as the
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), World Health Organization (WHO), the
Millennium Development Goal Number Five and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). All four of
these agencies try to seek control over this issue by providing education, professionals for proper
health care, and easy transportation to health faculties as a reliable source. The Canadian
International Development Agency is taking attention in maternal mortality in communities such
as the rural areas in South Sudan by improving their nutrition and decreasing the leading causes
of diseases and illnesses such as malaria and HIV/AIDS (DFATD). The World Health
Organization monitors the epidemic of health care as a whole and studies the reasons why
maternal mortality is at a high rate (WHO). The Millennium Development Goal Number Five is
supporting the development of proper help of professionals and appropriate trained midwives in
the nation that needs it most (UN News Center). The UN Population Fund takes the government
strategic approach to ensure the challenges of motherhood are at a safe matter (UNFPA). Within
Allen4

all four active international organizations they are developing an accurate plan to reduce South
Sudans death rate of mothers by deploying trained midwives, supplying essential supplies,
making familys arrangement easier to accessible health care facilities in a timely matter, and
escalating the education in women and families who are going through reproduction.
Although there are many organizations that are still trying to take actions on decreasing
the rate of maternal mortality in South Sudan, there are still a rapid percentage of maternal
deaths in this country which needs to end. A main course of action to curb maternal mortality is
to educate women on the reproductive system and the healthy lifestyle during pregnancy. This
can be done by certain organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency or
even the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop plans to provide programs for these
women to gain knowledge and develop healthy behavior during their pregnancy, child birth, or
after pregnancy. Certain plans may include fund raisers to gain money for education programs in
this country, medical supplies, and reliable transportation to heath care facilities. Also, study
aboard school programs or internships to travel to this country to teach and empower women and
girls about the importance at maternal health.
South Sudan also has the shortage of strategic plans for reliable transportation for women
and girls to reach the need for proper care. Health care providers should be able to attend to these
women easily and rapidly for child birth. The lack of trained midwives or professionals should
not be an issue within South Sudan. Fund raising money to gain access for transportation is also
a way to prevent this from happing. Also education is needed within both parties to deliver
skilled care during or after birth and also the women who are going through delivery.
Allen5

For those who are skilled at their health care profession, should take a stand to motivate
those who are in need of care, to learn and educate them about the importance of a healthy
delivery for mothers. Also, fully trained health providers and midwives can teach others the
standard practice to deliver care. The biggest problem as well in South Sudan is that there is a
major shortage of midwives and health providers that educating women within their practice is
time consuming. I believe there should be programs from other countries such as American or
Europe to travel to South Sudan and educate many on basic health care and standard delivery
procedures.
Also, health care facilitates should make sure that all medical supplies and equipment are
clean and sanitized before each use. The lack of supplies is a concern as well in South Sudan due
to the low income and poor socioeconomic status of many individuals, but keeping a clean
environment should not be a problem. The education in women is at fault because of this due to
the lack of knowledge of the importance of sanitized care. As soon as the mothers, young girls,
and women all learn the importance of their maternal health, they will have a better
understanding and an accurate idea for delivery in sanitized conditions.
Maternal health is supported through prenatal care, appropriate health services for
accurate labor and deliveries, maternal education, and proper sanitized conditions. South Sudan
is lacking all of these qualities for the women in this country. By taking action and initial
approaches, this can decrease the extremely high maternal mortality rate. The maternal mortality
rate in South Sudan should not be at this high of a rate. The society at a global level needs to take
action to provide maternal care for these women South Sudan.

Allen6


Work Cited

"Development." Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs Trade and Canada, Deputy Minister of
International , Communication Branch. Web
"South Sudan Health Situation." WHO. 2014. Web.
"SOUTH SUDAN: The Biggest Threat to a Woman's Life." IRINnews. Web.
"Sudan and South Sudan." - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD). Web.
"United Nations Millennium Development Goals." UN News Center. UN. Web.
"UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund." UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund. Web.