A new study published last evening in the Lancet Global Health journal has revealed that annually, at least 40 million women are likely to experience a long-term health problem caused by childbirth.
The study shows a high burden of postnatal conditions that persist in the months or even years after giving birth.
These include pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia), 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%).
The study titled, ‘Maternal Health in the perinatal period and Beyond’, calls for greater attention to the long-term health of women and girls after and also before pregnancy.
It suggests that effective care throughout pregnancy and childbirth is also a critical preventive factor, they argue, to detect risks and avert complications that can lead to lasting health issues after birth.
They say lack of attention to such issues is the reason why 121 out of 185 countries have failed to significantly progress in reducing maternal deaths over the past two decades.
