Pakistan’s maternal and child health policy: analysis, lessons and the way forward

Emergency obstetric care in Punjab, Pakistan: Improvement needed

“…Pakistan spends a meagre 0.8% of GNP on its health sector 21 , and maternal and children's health (MCH) is especially poorly documented 13 . The World Bank estimates that MCH services in Pakistan account for a share of primary care ranging from 6 to 17% of total health care spending, and a share of 1 to 3% at the secondary care level 22 .…”

“…Pakistan has a high maternal mortality ratio of 500 per 100,000 live births 12,13 . WHO and UNICEF in 1996 estimated that one in every 38 women died from pregnancy-related problems, most of which were preventable 14 .…”

Assessment of Epidemiologic, Operational, and Sociopolitical Domains for Mainstreaming Nutrition

“…Given the theoretical considerations above, as well as an emerging literature on delivery-system challenges [20,21] and sociopolitical forces in decision-making about health [18,22,23], our assessment framework proposes three domains, each of which, when examined in an assessment, can answer specific questions and provide the basis for defining strategic actions to address the nutrition situation in a given country or context. We build on the prior UNICEF conceptual framework for nutrition that recognizes the influence of factors in the policy context as well as factors at the level of the community, household, and child.…”

Quintuplets born to a woman without fertility treatment in Pakistan

“…This is one of the few main reasons why the maternal and infant mortality is so high in Pakistan (350 per 100,000 and 82 per 1,000 births, respectively) (11,12). Traditionally, especially in the outskirts of the city and in rural areas, women give birth to children at home and not in hospital.…”