Tag: child birth

  • Three-year gap a must between two births: Punjab Minister for Population Welfare

    Three-year gap a must between two births: Punjab Minister for Population Welfare

    Punjab Minister for Population Welfare, Dr Jamal Nasir, has asserted that a three-year gap must be ensured between two child births for the health and safety of both the mother and the baby.

    While addressing a seminar on population welfare on Tuesday, Dr. Nasir added that under-nourishment and anaemia has resulted in women suffering from poor health.

    A policy is also being developed in which only employees with three or less than three children will be allowed to work in the Population Welfare Department.

    The caretaker government has reportedly promoted about 45,000 lady health workers in the province as part of its efforts towards improving mother and child healthcare and promoting population welfare.

    Dr Jamal Nasir pointed out that population control had never been seriously prioritised in Pakistan for sustainable development of the country, highlighting Iran and Bangladesh as role models pertaining to family planning.

  • We need more conversations about women and postpartum depression

    We need more conversations about women and postpartum depression

    After giving birth to a daughter for the third time, a woman jumped off the second floor of the hospital in Lahore, sustaining severe injuries.

    22-year-old Sidra Afzal was suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth to a baby girl for the third time in a row. She jumped from the second floor of the Lahore General Hospital.

    Postpartum depression is the name given to the wave or phase of sadness and anxiety some women experience after giving birth.

    Resultantly, oftimes, women do not feel like looking out or caring for the baby or themselves. They have trouble sleeping and eating and might constantly worry about the baby’s well-being. This condition can also make it difficult for mothers to bond with their baby or enjoy motherhood.

    As in Sidra’s case, according to Dawn newspaper, the initial investigation revealed that she wanted to avoid the “comments or taunts” passed by her relatives for not giving birth to a boy.

    As per hospital management officials, the incident took place when Sidra was undergoing treatment in the hospital’s labour room where she jumped from the window and sustained severe injuries and was admitted to the Punjab Institute of Neurosciences (PIN) in a critical condition.

    Sidra gave birth on September 18 at a private hospital in Kasur and was then brought to General Hospital Lahore.

    According to sources, Sidra had gone to use the washroom from where she jumped from the window and sustained several serious injuries.

    The Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Professor Nudrat Sohail, said that Sidra reached the facility from Kasur, the doctors conducted tests and decided to again operate on Sidra. Considering her medical condition and complications, she was shifted to the intensive care unit where two female attendants looked after her.

    Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Principal Prof Al-Fareed Zafar formed a five-member committee headed by Professor of Urology Dr. Dr Khizar Hayyat Gondal to investigate the matter and bring the facts before the public. The police are currently investigating the matter further.

  • ‘Aap ki kitni efficiency hai, marketain aik baje band hoti hain, bachay phir bhi zaida paida kartay hain’: Khawaja Asif

    ‘Aap ki kitni efficiency hai, marketain aik baje band hoti hain, bachay phir bhi zaida paida kartay hain’: Khawaja Asif

    Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, in a bizarre reference to the increasing population in Pakistan, said that there is no unforeseen increase in population in the countries where markets close at 8PM.

    The minister then said, “Your country’s performance is so efficient, despite closing markets at 1AM, they find time to produce more children.”

    The minister’s comments came while addressing a presser on government’s decision on its energy saving plan, applicable across the country. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that markets in all the province’s and federal areas will be shut down at 8 pm. Furthermore, wedding halls will close at 10 pm across the country.

    Asif said that if these timings are implemented then the country will save Rs 62 billion.

  • Woman gives birth to 4 children in Sindh

    Woman gives birth to 4 children in Sindh

    A woman gave birth to four children on Tuesday at a private hospital in Shikarpur, Sindh. The woman gave birth to quadruplets at the Christian Hospital, reports ARY News.

    The woman is a resident of Amrot Sharif. The newborns included four baby girls. The quadruplets were doing well and their mother was also stable.

    According to the hospital administration, the woman’s brother said that the woman has given birth after 10 years of marriage.

    Last month in June, a woman gave birth to quadruplets — one boy and three girls — at Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

  • More than 88,000 children died in Punjab health facilities

    More than 88,000 children died in Punjab health facilities

    According to an official report, 1,000 pregnant women and more than 88,000 newborns and children under the age of five died in Punjab’s basic health units (BHUs) and rural health centres (RHCs) in 2021, Asif Chaudhry reports for Dawn.

    The report is prepared by the Punjab government’s Planning and Development Board on the Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition programme (IRMNCH). The Punjab government launched the programme at primary-level healthcare facilities to reduce maternal, newborn, and child morbidity and mortality, promote family planning services, and improve women’s and children’s nutritional status.

    “These are alarming figures requiring immediate and serious attention of the project [IRMNCH] team and other stakeholders,” the report says.

    The report further states, “1,000 maternal deaths were reported to the IRMNCH programme in 2021, that is quite a high figure considering the public health significance and sensitivity of this issue.”

    In addition, during 2021 in Punjab, 25,208 deaths of under-five children were reported to the IRMNCH programme “These included 13,706 neonatal, 8,045 infant and 3,457 under-5 children’s deaths,” the report said.

    In addition to these deaths, there were 62,813 stillbirths reported in Punjab in 2021.