75pc Rohingya babies born in bamboo shelters

Every three out of four Rohingya babies are born in unsafe and unsanitary bamboo shelters, putting the lives of mother and baby at great risk, says Save the Children in a new report published yesterday.

The aid agency warned that hundreds of mothers and babies in the refugee camps could die this year of entirely preventable causes, if mothers do not get proper maternal healthcare.

The report was prepared based on data from Save the Children’s primary healthcare centres from July 2018 to April 2019 that says of the expected 400 births in a community of some 20,000 people, only 119 babies were safely delivered in its properly-equipped health facility. The remaining births took place at home.

Worryingly, the study also found that half of all maternal deaths in the camps happen at home.

“This means mothers received no emergency care which could have been life-saving,” said Save the Children.

According to Unicef, more than 60 children are born every day in the camps where some 1.1 million Rohingyas, including 750,000 who fled Myanmar military crackdown since August 2017, are living in the makeshift shanties in Ukhia and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar.

According to a joint report of the UN Population Fund and the Center for Disease Control, for every 100,000 live births, 179 mothers die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth in the country. It is almost two-and-a-half times higher than the worldwide target for maternal mortality of under 70 per 100,000 live births.

Save the Children said it has heard anecdotally that some families do not seek out care during pregnancy complications, because they fear sterilisation or infanticide -- based on their experiences in Myanmar -- and would rather keep the women at home at all costs.

“Healthcare providers need to earn the trust of the community, so that expectant mothers get the care they need when they need it.”

The international charity says home births put the lives of both mother and baby at serious risk, as unskilled birth attendants are often unable to identify or handle emergencies in time, and are unaware of pre-existing conditions of the mothers such as high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia and malnutrition, which can lead to complications during delivery.

Also, poor hygiene practices can lead to severe infections in mothers and newborns, the report said.

The maternal mortality rate paints a grim picture of the unhygienic conditions in which many girls and women in the camps deliver their babies, said Save the Children.

It called for rapid investment to make high-quality health facilities available for expectant mothers and their families.