Maternal and infant mortality expert hopeful for SA

Abstract

Belatedly but with unprecedented determination, South
Africa is slowly preparing to fill the gaping holes in its
health system that contribute directly to between a quarter
and half of all avoidable maternal, neonatal and child deaths.

That is the opinion of Professor Bob Pattinson, Director of
the Medical Research Council’s (MRC’s) Maternal and Infant
Health Care Strategies Research Unit and a key government
advisor.

Interviewed at the 19th World Congress of Gynaecology and
Obstetrics held in Cape Town last October, Pattinson was asked
for a local outlook given South Africa’s comparatively dismal
maternal and increasing infant mortality rates.

South Africa is one of only 12 countries in which mortality
rates for children have consistently risen since 1990, the
baseline year for the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

Pattinson and his research partners have produced papers
showing that thousands of deaths of mothers and babies can be
prevented at district hospital level – where little has changed
since an audit of 34 such facilities 5 years ago.