Life 4 - Staying Alive!
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- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Life visits Bangladesh to find out how the country is planning to cut the maternal mortality rate by three quarters by the year 2015. Every year, a recent WHO report shows, 529,000 women worldwide die in childbirth and pregnancy. Nearly all of these preventable deaths occur in developing countries, where problems of poverty, combined with lack of health and education services, make motherhood a dangerous undertaking. For over 20 years, the international community has pledged itself to improving maternal health. But until recently there has been very little progress. Now, in the Millennium Development Goals, 189 countries have renewed their commitment to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent by 2015. In Bangladesh, 50 women die during pregnancy or in childbirth every day. Will Bangladesh be able to deliver its promises to cut maternal mortality figures by three-quarters by 2015.
'The importance of these films is that they are intended to raise awareness about global issues in young people, and can be used by anyone for this purpose. The quality of the films is excellent. They are documentaries about the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and include brief interviews with people who are actually involved in MDG programs, from various institutions and from the grassroots to executive level...The objective evidence about the current global crisis of insecurity, poverty, gender inequalities, environmental degradation, and lack of international cooperation is presented in a way that is both realistic and non-inflammatory.
Children are the future. Educational materials such as the Bullfrog Films are very important for the future of both humanity and the human habitat...The Bullfrog Films certainly can and should be shown to children, especially to high school students. But these films are most appropriate for those who prepare the children for responsible citizenship, including global citizenship. They are certainly appropriate for parents who want their children to know about the need for human solidarity and environmental sustainability. And, they are most appropriate for training teachers to plant the seed of global concerns in their students' minds and hearts.' Luis Gutierrez, Editor, Solidarity, Sustainability, and Non-Violence Research Newsletter
Citation
Main credits
Shrestha, Subina (film director)
Shrestha, Subina (film producer)
Gabbay, Alex (film director)
Gabbay, Alex (film producer)
Richards, Jenny (editor of moving image work)
Chalk, Sophie (film producer)
Tikaram, Ramon (narrator)
Other credits
Music, Anusheh Anadll; series editor, Jenny Richards; executive producer, Sophie Chalk.
Distributor subjects
Asian Studies; Developing World; Education; Global Issues; Health; Human Rights; Humanities; International Studies; Millennium Development Goals; Population; Poverty; Reproductive Rights; Social Justice; Sociology; United Nations; Women's StudiesKeywords
WEBVTT
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Previously in life… While a lot
has been done on (inaudible)
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the rights of woman have not been addressed, they\'re
not educated or informed about there own health.
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Educating girls and educating women is the best investment and
purely economic terms that one can do in any poor country.
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Many developing countries are
incorporating again in their national
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(inaudible) developing goal reports.
The issues of reproductive health.
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[sil.]
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Mother is a mother. She is the most important
person in the child\'s life. The most important.
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There\'s no one else like her.
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Just a few days before she died, she said
that \"I should take care of the children.\"
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\"My children\" she said. \"Educate them,
guide them\" this is what she told me.
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My wife was very attached
to my children and to me.
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She loved us a lot.
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It was two in the morning in 1999.
Majeda Begum, wife of Bilal Hussain
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went into labor with her fourth child. Bilal
had no money to take her to the hospital.
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He left his three children with their
mother and went in search of money.
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Half an hour later when he came back
to the slum, his wife is already dead.
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The child was never born.
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When my wife died, I wasn\'t at home.
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I only came home half an
hour after her death.
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My elder son came and asked me, \"dad, why
don\'t you take mum to the hospital.\"
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I answered son \"we don\'t have the money for the hospital,
but do one thing take her to the clinic instead.\"
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But he said that he couldn\'t move her.
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So I said to him \"I tell you what,
I\'ll go and try to find some money,
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I\'ll be back in half an hour, nothing will change by then,
I\'ll be back in half an hour and will take her then.\"
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[non-English narration]
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In the four years since Majeda\'s death
according to the World Health Organization,
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more than eighty thousand women have died during
pregnancy or in childbirth in Bangladesh,
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that\'s 50 mothers dying every day.
Like many developing countries,
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Bangladesh faces many problems
poverty, overpopulation,
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and the lack of health and education services
particularly women\'s health services.
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Despite all these odds, Bangladesh is determined to cut
its maternal mortality rate bringing it down from 20,000
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to 5000 thousand a year over the next decade.
The question is, will it be able to deliver.
00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:28.000
[music]
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[music]
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Every year according to the
World Health Organization
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over 5,29,000 women worldwide die
in childbirth and in pregnancy.
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For over 20 years, governments UN agencies
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and NGOs have pledged to bring
down the number of women dying.
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Maternal mortality rate is considered one of the
most important indicators of a nation\'s development.
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Now in the millennium development
goals, 189 countries
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renewed their commitment in 2000 to reducing
maternal mortality by 75% percent by 2015.
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Right now you will find
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that the (inaudible) the development and the
promotion of this millennium development good
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(inaudible) brought you a
lot of development partners
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and this is because we now
appreciate that without addressing
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maternal mortality reduction in
strengthening systems to support this
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essential element of human health.
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We are not going to achieve sustainable
development in the effected economies.
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In developed countries, WHO statistics
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show that a mother\'s risk of dying from
pregnancy related causes is one in every 2800.
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In Bangladesh, the risk is 1 in 59.
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The Bangladesh health ministry is
acutely aware of the problems.
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In my country, the 130 million people
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uh… is very thickly populated country.
So umm… in the deliveries,
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uh… or the labor in the… in the
country, is still we\'re trying to go
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uh… but it is still umm… there
is a lot of uh… problems.
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And moreover the 90% of the
delivery occurs in the home,
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which is not at all uh… nicely attended.
So we\'re… we\'re trying to pile up
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this delivery system.
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The tragedies of maternal mortality
don\'t end with the death
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of individual women. The families they
live behind especially the children
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go on suffering the consequences. Before
Majeda\'s death, Bilal used to work in a factory.
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After her death, he remarried
and had two more children.
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But then he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed
waist down and his family life deteriorated.
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[non-English narration]
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After I got married again, in the
beginning she loved my children a lot.
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But now she has started
causing trouble with them.
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For want of peace and quiet, my daughter has left
the house and I have started taking my son with me.
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[non-English narration]
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Bilal now supports his family by begging.
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His younger son Farooq
accompanies him while he begs.
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Bilal\'s loyalties are divided
between his two families.
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If a mother dies, what happens to her
new baby? What happens to her siblings?
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What happens to the community
on whom some, you know,
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charge would be levied? What happens to the
husband, how does he proceed with his life?
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Who looks after the children? Now the
richer people may me able to afford
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better health care and maybe somebody
to take care of the children,
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but the poor people they just get into worst
poverty and it becomes a vicious circle.
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The death of Bilal\'s first wife Majeda
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has had a profound effect on his children.
Bilal\'s 13-year-old daughter is now a housemaid
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and seldom returns home. His 15-year-old son
Masood collects scrap and works full time.
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With their education cut short, their
chances for the future remain bleak.
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Maternal mortality, I mean, just imagine
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if our mothers died at birth,
what would have our lives been.
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A nation cannot progress with
mothers dying in large numbers.
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A 99% percent of maternity deaths
take place in developing countries
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and most of them are preventable.
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A few kilometers down the road in the heart
of the city is the Dhaka Medical Hospital,
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one of the best hospitals in Bangladesh. Because
90% of births traditionally happen at home,
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the Bangladeshi women who do end up here are
emergency cases rushed into the obstetric ward
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when things go wrong. Often
though it\'s too late.
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One in six maternal deaths
are caused by eclampsia.
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Eclampsia or fits is caused by high blood pressure,
but is easily preventable if detected early.
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With the majority of Bangladeshi
births taking place at home,
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by the time women are brought to the eclampsia
unit here, most lose their babies, many die,
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and others suffer permanent
brain damage or paralysis.
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While maternal mortality is a key
development indicator in poor countries,
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maternal morbidities the disabilities that result
from birth complications are often overlooked.
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A recent WHO report shows that more
than 50 million women worldwide suffer
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from poor reproductive health and
maternal morbidities. In Bangladesh alone
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the UN Population Fund estimates six million women
suffer from maternal morbidities such as fistula.
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For one woman who dies, 16 much more women
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suffer from many disabilities
like obstetric fistula,
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that means hole in the bladder and rectum,
there may be prolapse of the uterus,
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uterus distends and hang outside,
there may be chronic pelvic pains,
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the woman suffer from pain, they cannot walk
properly, they cannot (inaudible) their husband
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because they have difficult intercourse and
sometimes that leads to family break downing
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and many maternal (inaudible)
becomes infertile.
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[sil.]
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Dr. Sayeba Akhter
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has done more than 250 operations
on women with obstetric fistula.
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Today is 22-year-old
Muneera\'s first operation.
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When I talk about the maternal morbidity, maternal
morbidity is not a physical or medical problems only,
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
but it is a lots of social impact.
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It has impacts in psychological and
social uh… health of the woman.
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When, I mean, woman had maternal
morbidities, she cannot continue
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the proper family lives, she
(inaudible) of the family.
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One such outcast is 22-year-old Rena.
Over the past eight years,
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she and her four-year-old daughter have become
familiar figures of the Dhaka Medical Hospital.
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Rena was married when she was 13.
By the age of 14,
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Rena was pregnant and had an obstructed
delivery, which ruptured her vagina.
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Her first baby died.
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Rena developed fistula and lost control
of her bowel and bladder movements.
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She\'s already had six operations, but is still not cured.
Like many young girls whose pelvic bones are underdeveloped,
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obstructed delivery left Rena damaged.
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My husband\'s family were very unkind to me.
00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.999
They say things like, \"what use is
this wife, she can\'t make a family,
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she can\'t do anything, what good is she do
us\" but it was only my husband\'s family
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
that was like this.
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:48.000
[music]
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After her obstetric fistula, Rena had two
more children but her husband disowned her.
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Now whenever she\'s not at
the hospital in Dhaka,
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she lives with her mother in a village in
Narsingdi District three hours from Dhaka.
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Childhood was the best time for me.
Before I was married, I was happy.
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Since I got married,
it\'s all being downing.
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
[sil.]
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
Rena\'s mother has had to sell most of her land and
livestock to pay the costs of Rena\'s treatment.
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
With the family\'s funds running out, Rena has
given her youngest daughter up for adoption.
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
The family has learned the hard way.
Rena\'s sister Mukta
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
is already 20, but after the
problems her sister faced,
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
she refuses to get married young. Breaking with
tradition in villages like this is difficult.
00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
Government figures show that 58% percent of
girls in Bangladesh below the age of 19,
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.999
are either pregnant or mothers and UN
figures show that it\'s teenage girls
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who face three times more risk of maternal
mortality and morbidity than women in their 20\'s.
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In some of the developing
countries is part of the culture,
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
is part of the underdevelopment of
woman, the inequities that exist,
00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
the early marriages for… for… for… for
young girls that are still underdeveloped
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
whose body are not yet ready to give births,
these are the issues that have to be addressed.
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
I do wonder what it would be like
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
if I were a man and I know that if I were a man,
I would never treat another woman like this.
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
Since I\'ve been treated this way, I\'m sure I
would never treat another woman like this.
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
[non-English narration]
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
It\'s cultural practices like the social pressures
for early marriage of girls that are the root cause
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
of the high maternal mortality rate in South Asia as
well as for some of the lowest levels of education,
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
health, and nutrition for girls and women.
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
Religious leaders are aware of the issues and say
that religion should be no barrier to women\'s rights.
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:08.000
[non-English narration]
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
I think the right given to women in Islam
who (inaudible) the right given to them
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
by any other religion that I am aware of.
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
Men and woman complete one another
and make each other whole.
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
Men cannot without the help of women
(inaudible) nation or community or a family.
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
Like similarly women cannot perform their
duties without the assistance of men
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
but together they can make a
home, a society or a country
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
beautiful, fruitful, and functional.
For this reason,
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
men have a lot of
responsibilities towards women.
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
Bangladesh has made
significant progress recently
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
in reducing maternal mortality.
According to the UN population fund,
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
the number of women dying in childbirth
is almost halved in the last 13 years
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
down from 60 to 32 out of
every 10,000 deliveries.
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
One of the government\'s first steps was to focus on
empowerment of women and invest heavily in goals
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
and adolescent education. Primary
and secondary enrollment of girls
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
went up dramatically. For the first time
ever more girls than boys now attend both
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
primary and secondary school
and in the rural areas,
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
the government\'s also training skilled birth attendants
and community midwives to perform safer deliveries
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
and teaching them to refer complicated
cases to health facilities.
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
Over the last ten years, maternal
mortality reduction has not reduced.
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
We\'re continuing to lose a woman
to maternal mortality at the rate
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
of 1 per minute. This is unforgivable
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
because the interventions that are required
to save these woman lives are available
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
and they\'re known to the global health
community. They\'re easy to implement
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
and they can become a pivotal part of
any health system, no matter how poor
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
the country. It is a question of priorities
even for the developing economies.
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
So that I believe that it is feasible,
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
it is possible if the countries
wanted deadly enough.
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
For Rena and her family
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
it\'s all come too late.
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
I hope my daughter does
well and develops herself.
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
I hope that I can educate her and she can
possibly be a nurse or even a doctor.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
These are my dreams. Maybe I can\'t
achieve them. At the moment,
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
I can\'t even educate her but I\'ll try
my best and I\'m doing all that I can.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
Maybe I can make her a nurse, if
she can pass her matriculation,
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
she could be a nurse. Just because
I\'m uneducated does not mean
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
that I want my daughter to be
uneducated, that\'s all that I want.
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
But Rena also tries to make sure that other women
don\'t have to go through what she went through.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Rena\'s neighbor 18-year-old
Rasheeda was married last year.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
She is now five months pregnant, but
like other women in the village
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
Rasheeda has not been for an antenatal
check up yet according to UNICEF
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
15 out of every 100 women risk
complications giving birth.
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
Rena\'s had a long day trying to convince
Rasheed\'s family to take her for a check up.
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
When Rena first visited this district hospital,
it had no emergency obstetric care facilities.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
Last year, the government established
an emergency unit as well as a Maternal
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
and Child Welfare Clinic. It has
taken a long time for governments
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
in developing countries to appreciate the
important link between investment in health care
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
and maternal mortality
reduction and development
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
because development is
normally associated with
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
a human capital that is… that is a
technical or that is of a high level
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
such as the… the… trading
of engineers, doctors.
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
Where as the natural effect what
contributes to economic development
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
into the gross domestic product of a country
and therefore, the tendency the… the economy
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
is how productive individuals in the economic
are, no matter at what level they\'re.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
In Bangladesh\'s rapidly
expanding towns and cities,
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
the government\'s using a different approach.
They\'re trying to change a culture
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
of risky home birth and women\'s
reluctance to attend antenatal clinics,
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
instead they\'re taking health services to the
communities themselves especially in the slums.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
In a slum,
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
though we have many facilities, in
the districts and the Dhaka city,
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
big cities we\'ve got the facilities.
But due to the… their ignorance
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
and the… due to their (inaudible)
their own, they don\'t like
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
to sometimes they don\'t like
to come to the hospitals.
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
So this thing, we have to go for their
awareness, particularly the mother-in-laws,
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
their husbands. They\'ve got
(inaudible) don\'t like to come.
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
This is the thing.
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
Every day sister Samantha Biswas examines
patients in slums across the city.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
Many come to her for
reproductive health care.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
With volunteers in the massive media campaign,
community awareness about maternal health
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
is slowly increasing, but there
is still a long way to go.
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
There\'s a very close link between empowering
women and reducing the number of women who die
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
during childbirth. In educated women,
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
we\'ll know what to do during
pregnancy and post pregnancy
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
to protect herself and the baby.
Empowering woman
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
to ensure that they have (inaudible) over
what happens to their bodies, will ensure
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
that they blend their families properly, they don\'t get
married before their bodies are ready for marriage
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
and they\'re not sexually violated.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
One of the effects of globalization
is that there are now more
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
job opportunities for women. More than a
million women under the age of 25 now work
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
in garment industries in Bangladesh.
A quarter of them are unmarried.
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
Opportunities like these are empowering women
economically and helping to break the cycle of poverty
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
and maternal mortality in Bangladesh.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
As long as there is no gender
equality or no full gender equality,
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
women will not get the same right to
health as men get or as they deserve.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
Safe motherhood is a human right and
every woman is authorized to this right,
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
no woman should die if
that can be prevented
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:25.000
while she\'s bringing another
person to the world.
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:53.000
[music]
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
[non-English narration]
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
I often remember my wife. And when I do,
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
I go to the Hossainpur graveyard.
I buried here in Hossainpur.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
Whenever I think about my wife, I go to Hossainpur,
I just go to visit her grave and then I come back
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
and anyone mentions clinics,
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
I miss her more.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
For more information on maternal
mortality visit our website
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:35.000
www.tve.org/lifeonline.