Birth in Nepal

Birth in Nepal

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Ratings: 8.36/10 from 14 users.

Birth in NepalNepal has some of the worst maternal death statistics in the world, with some six women dying in childbirth every day.

Despite the political instability of the past ten years of civil war, the Nepalese government is introducing measures to improve safety for mothers but so far little seems to be working.

Subina Shrestha, a Nepalese filmmaker who is herself five months pregnant, sets out to find out why so many mothers are dying in childbirth. In the following account she looks at the human stories behind these statistics.

Ten years of civil war in Nepal took over 15,000 lives. Within the same period, childbirth took the lives of over 22,000 women.

The war led to a revolution and there was an overhaul of the Nepali political system. The maternal deaths, however, hardly even featured in the newspapers.

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Brett
Brett
7 years ago

children should be the most important thing. regardless of your religion/culture/ect, inbreeding (allowed and encouraged by law no less) is the most despicable act anyone can commit. These countries need to be dealt with. Or our species won't last.

These aren't feelings. These are facts.

and this is swept under the rug........ we only think good things about buddha, right? kind of sheds light on why the men shouldn't eat red meat.... and why monks don't even want sex. the whole story is a sham of horror

Brett
Brett
7 years ago

Your heart aches for these polyandry fueled inbreds? really? do people never really ask, why??? Why is nature the way that it is? Earthquakes, largest maternal death rate in the world, inbred as can be? clear skys, on top of that. (above a bottomless pit). I'd say I feel for the poor saps of men, but honestly, who would actually allow this? Well, now you know why the men meditate there.

Guess just keep letting nature send more 'hints' till they figure it out...

Jane Tow
Jane Tow
9 years ago

One word. Sterilization.

Sanju
Sanju
11 years ago

why not government provide facilities to these women rather than corruptin a huge amount money everyday...........i find no where myself when i see these types o f condition of the women................

Sanju
Sanju
11 years ago

government provide little facilities to preganant women rather than corrupting a huge amount of money everyday..........m totally upset when i saw these documentry....being a female i find no pace for myself...........

SoniSat
SoniSat
11 years ago

Women are so repressed and mistreated by men. It just sickens me. Sometimes, I am so ashamed to be Indian.

Beth
Beth
11 years ago

What is sad about these women is not that they don't have contraception as so many others have mentioned. It is sad that they have no information available or education about normal childbirth. They live in a very superstitious society and the women are also the ones who bear most of the manual labor. It is not good for a pregnant woman to not have enough rest. These women know nothing about childbirth, what is normal vs. what isn't. The women interfere with women in labor, but women birth safest when left alone. Women intrinsically fear birth, also hindering a safe birth process. Sadder still is the total disregard for female babies. The mother doesn't even lift her baby at birth and you can tell by her face that she is very disappointing the baby is a girl. The say "its a girl, its a girl, its a widow." Again, the issue is not that these women aren't sterilized, its the total lack of education, information about nutrition on top of non-informed women interfering with a laboring woman's body. Unhindered birth in a healthy, restful, well nourished woman is quite, quite safe. This doc failed in that it made all birth look dangerous. It isn't.

bringmeredwine
bringmeredwine
11 years ago

The 2 mothers who gave birth looked a hundred years old. I'm sure they felt that way too. I feel so bad for them. Too bad they have no rights or access to birth control.

KamronBennett
KamronBennett
11 years ago

How sad is it, that a girl- which one day will become an adult, a wife, is referred to as a widow???? How depressing is the outlook/ the opinion that a girl is not as good as a boy??? This video makes me look back and realize that though there might be problems or discomforts in my country we are so blest!! Health care at this time is free, and access to private practices are readily available. These are some real strong women- women of courage and of worth!

capdanks30
capdanks30
11 years ago

I get confused ??? WHAT YEAR IS THIS ?

Sometimes I feel like we have computers,education and books and STILL live in the 1500's :0(

dewflirt
dewflirt
11 years ago

Where to start? The idea that giving birth is easy and that women know instinctively how to do it, it's natural! I think the mortality rate shows that up for the myth it is. I know a lot of other mothers and very few of them have managed to get through childbirth without some sort of complication and help. It's a worry that they keep having so many kids, what happens to them all if the mother dies and their father is working away? In particular what happens to the girls? The woman in this made it clear that the girls don't matter as much to her as the boys and she doesn't seem to mind that they know it. The dad clearly wasn't bothered, out of sight and out of mind!
She must have felt the same sadness when she was small. She and the other women must believe themselves to be of such little worth, otherwise why would they think so little of their daughters? The ladies appear to be a little brusque with each other, very matter of fact. Maybe they're being cruel to be kind, bullying each other through the fear. I like to think so many turned up for the birth because they do care, that there is a pooling of knowledge gained from experience. Even so, it all looks pretty hit and miss and maybe some of the fear is that the community might become responsible for the children left behind should the mother die. Always comes back to the same thing, educate and promote contraception. More children leads to a lower standard of living and with each pregnancy, a chance that existing children will end up motherless. Too sad :(

Missy Ruth
Missy Ruth
11 years ago

Arghh my heart aches for these women. :(