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Maternal Health in West Africa and Western Media: “The Global Mother”

Maternal Health in West Africa and Western Media: “The Global Mother”. Sarah Elnawasrah & Diane Sammak. What is maternal health?. Maternal mortality Reproductive health. Maternal mortality. Deaths caused by complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth

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Maternal Health in West Africa and Western Media: “The Global Mother”

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  1. Maternal Health in West Africa and Western Media: “The Global Mother” Sarah Elnawasrah & Diane Sammak

  2. What is maternal health? • Maternal mortality • Reproductive health

  3. Maternal mortality • Deaths • caused by complications • during and following pregnancy and childbirth • pre-existing conditions, worsen with childbirth • diseases (AIDS, malaria)

  4. Maternal mortality • 80% of maternal deaths are caused by: • severe bleeding • infections • high blood pressure • unsafe abortions

  5. Maternal mortality • Factors that prevent women from seeking care: • Poverty • Distance • Lack of information • Inadequate services • Cultural practices

  6. Reproductive health • STIs and STDs • Family planning • FGM or FGC or FC • Contraception • Adolescent pregnancy

  7. good maternal health = decreased rates of maternal mortality + increase in reproductive health services

  8. Without maternal health... • Mothers are at risk • Newborns are at risk • Children are at risk

  9. Why is maternal health important? • Easily preventable • Avoidable • Health-care solutions already exist • Reduces child mortality • Improves lives of mothers • Improves lives of children • newborn health/infant mortality

  10. Maternal health in development • MDG 5 • a. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio • b. Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

  11. Why is maternal health important in development? “Maternal mortality is a key indicator of international development, and its reduction has long been a challenge in low-income countries, despite the existence of effective interventions” (Zureick-Brown, 2013) “The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequities in access to health services, and highlights the gap between rich and poor. Almost all maternal deaths (99%) occur in developing countries. More than half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa”

  12. Burkina Faso!

  13. source: World Health Organization

  14. source: World Health Organization Reproductive health in Burkina Faso Contraceptive prevalence

  15. source: World Health Organization Reproductive health in Burkina Faso Family planning prevalence

  16. Maternal health and global perceptions Creation of the “global mother”

  17. Perceptions of Africa in Western Media “The single story has helped to generate millions of dollars in "aid" and an industry dedicated to spending it. It has enriched corrupt African dignitaries and raised the profile of western celebrities like Bono and Sir Bob Geldof” (Jamme)

  18. Perceptions of Africa in Western Media • Reinforces western prejudices • Deflects international development efforts • Undermines African leadership

  19. Enforcing the Image of African Dependence on the West

  20. Enforcing the Image of African Dependence “This is a phenomenon in which it is now becoming commonplace and even fashionable to see white Western women saving, rescuing, or adopting international children from underprivileged parts of the world” (Shome)

  21. Enforcing the Image of African Dependence • Reinforces colonial transnational relations of power • Perpetuates the “single story” • Absence of African Mothers in Western Media

  22. “This discourse of global motherhood also has to be related to histories of Western colonialism, foreign policy initiatives, war, Western militarism, and financial policies of organization such as the World Bank and IMF,all which have had a role to play in decimating local family structures in so many underprivileged worlds that today result in abandoned children, or children plagued by poverty whom the white woman then rescues and brings into her familial folds” (Shome)

  23. References Jamme, Mariéme. "Negative Perceptions Slow Africa's Development." The Guardian n.d.: n. pag. Print. Raka Shome (2011) “Global Motherhood”: The Transnational Intimacies of White Femininity, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 28:5, 388-406, DOI:10.1080/15295036.2011.589861 Storeng, K. T., Drabo, S., Ganaba, R., Sundby, J., Calvert, C., & Filippi, V. (2012). Mortality after near-miss obstetric complications in burkina faso: medical, social and health-care factors. Bull World Health Organ, 90, 418-425. Zureick-Brown, S., Newby, H., Chou, D., Mizoguchi, N., Say, L., Suzuki, E., & Wilmoth, J. (2013). Understanding global trends in maternal mortality.International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 39(1), 32-41.

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