|Somaliland: The aspiration of a woman| |Monday, 15 August 2011|
Having a baby is one of the most precious moments in life for
most women but it can also be frightening or mired with anxious
feeling. Of course, the risks are considerably varied depending
on where you live in the world. For many women and girls in sub-
Saharan Africa the risk of dying during childbirth or giving
birth prematurely is very high. According to UNICEF a woman in
sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or
childbirth, compared to a 1 in 4,000 risk in a developing
country. As a result of these horrifying statistics, in 2000 the
United Nations launched its millennium development goal 5 agenda
to help achieve safe motherhood in the developing countries. The
World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF have worked in
conjunction to put strategies and resources into the developing
countries to reach that target. However, the task is enormous
and there are many issues to be addressed and tackled when it
comes to women he