International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

An international conference on maternal and child health is due to take place in Washington, US, this week.

One country that will be focused on is Afghanistan, which has particularly high numbers of maternal and infant deaths, reports the Voice of America.

Qudratullah Mojadidi, an Afghan doctor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Florida, told the news provider that 16 per cent of infants die in the first month of their life in Afghanistan.

The most common causes of early infant mortality are infections and dehydration, he said.

There are also high rates of maternal mortality in the country and this is due to women having limited access to emergency obstetric services and lack of education among young women, according to Dr Christopher Murray, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Washington.

Dr Murray told the publication: "In terms of reducing the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan, it is about reducing fertility, it is about educating women, and it is about providing access to ante-natal care and emergency obstetrical services."

According to the international charity UNICEF, women in the less developed countries in the world are 300 times more likely to die during childbirth or from illnesses related to pregnancy than those in developed nations.

Posted by Paul Robertson