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Glossary
of Selected Terms
Basic emergency obstetric
care, in UNFPA discussions, includes the following functions:
- Parenteral (intravenous or intramuscular) antibiotics
- Parenteral oxytocics (drugs that induce uterine contractions
to stop bleeding)
- Parenteral sedatives or anticonvulsant drugs
- Manual removal of the placenta (to stop haemorrhage)
- Removal of retained products (to prevent bleeding and infection)
- Assisted vaginal delivery with forceps or vacuum extractor (to
alleviate prolonged labour)
Includes all of the functions listed
above, as well as the ability to perform caesarean sections and
blood transfusions, and the other capabilities, such as administering
anaesthesia, that those functions imply.
An injury in the birth canal that
allows leakage from the bladder or rectum into the vagina, leaving
a woman permanently incontinent, often leading to isolation and
exclusion from the family and community.
Refers to serious disease,
disability or physical damage such as fistula, caused by pregnancy-related
complications. Maternal morbidity is widespread, but not accurately
reported.
According to the Tenth
International Classification of Diseases, a maternal death is defined
as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination
of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy,
from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its
management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”
This measurement,
the number of deaths per 100,000 women in the 15-49 age group, measure
the impact of maternal deaths on the population of women as a whole,
not just on pregnant women. The statistic is affected by two factors:
the risk of death among pregnant women and the proportion of women
who become pregnant each year. The maternal mortality rate can be
lowered either by making childbirth safer or by reducing the fertility
rate in the population.
The number of maternal
deaths per 100,00 live births measures the risk of maternal death
among pregnant or recently pregnant women. A more precise measurement
would be the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 pregnancies,
to account for those who die from unsafe abortions. However, data
on number of pregnancies are difficult to obtain.
Care that can be
administered by qualified birth attendants at home or in facilities
with minimal equipment. It includes uterine massage or bi-manual
compression to reduce or stop bleeding, and the administration of
antibiotics and antipyretics orally as a temporary measure if transport
to more extensive facilities takes more than a few hours.
A nurse, midwife, doctor or other practitioner
with professional training in obstetric care.
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