Maternal Health in West Africa and Western Media: “The Global

Mother”

Sarah Elnawasrah & Diane Sammak

What is maternal health?

● Maternal mortality● Reproductive health

Maternal mortality● Deaths

○ caused by complications ○ during and following

pregnancy and childbirth○ pre-existing conditions,

worsen with childbirth■ diseases (AIDS,

malaria)

Maternal mortality

● 80% of maternal deaths are caused by:○ severe bleeding○ infections○ high blood pressure○ unsafe abortions

Maternal mortality

● Factors that prevent women from seeking care:○ Poverty○ Distance○ Lack of information○ Inadequate services○ Cultural practices

Reproductive health

● STIs and STDs● Family planning● FGM or FGC or FC● Contraception● Adolescent

pregnancy

good maternal health =

decreased rates of maternal mortality + increase in reproductive health services

Without maternal health...

● Mothers are at risk● Newborns are at risk● Children are at risk

Why is maternal health important?

● Easily preventable● Avoidable● Health-care solutions already exist ● Reduces child mortality● Improves lives of mothers● Improves lives of children● newborn health/infant mortality

Maternal health in development● MDG 5

○ a. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

○ b. Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

Why is maternal health important in development?

“Maternal mortality is a key indicator of international development, and its reduction has long been a challenge in low-income countries, despite the existence of effective interventions” (Zureick-Brown, 2013)

“The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequities in access to health services, and highlights the gap between rich and poor. Almost all maternal deaths (99%) occur in developing countries. More than half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa”

Burkina Faso!

source: World Health Organization

Reproductive health in Burkina Faso

Contraceptive prevalence

source: World Health Organization

Reproductive health in Burkina Faso

Family planning prevalence

source: World Health Organization

Maternal health and global perceptions

Creation of the “global mother”

Perceptions of Africa in Western Media

“The single story has helped to generate millions of dollars in "aid" and an industry dedicated to spending it. It has enriched corrupt African dignitaries and raised the profile of western celebrities like Bono and Sir Bob Geldof” (Jamme)

Perceptions of Africa in Western Media

• Reinforces western prejudices

• Deflects international development efforts

• Undermines African leadership

Enforcing the Image of African Dependence on the West

Enforcing the Image of African Dependence

“This is a phenomenon in which it is now becoming commonplace and even fashionable to see white Western women saving, rescuing, or adopting international children from underprivileged parts of the world” (Shome)

Enforcing the Image of African Dependence

• Reinforces colonial transnational relations of power

• Perpetuates the “single story”

• Absence of African Mothers in Western Media

“This discourse of global motherhood also has to be related to histories of Western colonialism, foreign policy initiatives, war, Western militarism, and financial policies of organization such as the World Bank and IMF,all which have had a role to play in decimating local family structures in so many underprivileged worlds that today result in abandoned children, or children plagued by poverty whom the white woman then rescues and

brings into her familial folds” (Shome)

ReferencesJamme, Mariéme. "Negative Perceptions Slow Africa's Development." The Guardian n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Raka Shome (2011) “Global Motherhood”: The Transnational Intimacies of White Femininity, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 28:5, 388-406, DOI:10.1080/15295036.2011.589861

Storeng, K. T., Drabo, S., Ganaba, R., Sundby, J., Calvert, C., & Filippi, V. (2012). Mortality after near-miss obstetric complications in burkina faso: medical, social and health-care factors. Bull World Health Organ, 90, 418-425.

Zureick-Brown, S., Newby, H., Chou, D., Mizoguchi, N., Say, L., Suzuki, E., & Wilmoth, J. (2013). Understanding global trends in maternal mortality.International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 39(1), 32-41.