40 million women experience prolonged health crisis after birth: summary

What we know

• A recent study titled "Beyond Pregnancy" estimates that 40 million women globally endure health challenges resulting from childbirth, annually.
• The research uncovers a prevalence of postnatal conditions persisting for months or even years postpartum.
• The health issues include, dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse) affecting more than a third (35%) of postpartum women, low back pain (32%), anal incontinence (19%), urinary incontinence (8-31%), anxiety (9-24%), depression (11-17%), perineal pain (11%), fear of childbirth (tokophobia) (6-15%), and secondary infertility (11%), KBC reports.
• Researchers are advocating for heightened recognition within the healthcare system concerning these prevalent issues, many of which endure beyond the typical timeframe during which women

What they said

The director of sexual and reproductive health and research at the World Health Organisation, Professor Pascale Allotey said, “Many postpartum conditions cause considerable suffering in women’s daily life long after birth, both emotionally and physically, and yet they are largely under-appreciated, under-recognized, and under-reported. Throughout their lives, and beyond motherhood, women need access to a range of services from healthcare providers who listen to their concerns and meet their needs – so they not only survive childbirth but can enjoy good health and quality of life.” The centre director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, João Paulo Souza added, “Maternal health is not just something that we should start worrying about when the pregnancy bump appears. There are many factors that influence the likelihood a woman will have a healthy pregnancy, from the environment around her to the political and economic systems she lives in, or access to nutritious food and the level of agency she has over her life – all of these need to be addressed to improve her health, alongside access to high-quality healthcare throughout life.”