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Source: ONE News -
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It may be International Women's Day and a time to celebrate the achievements of women, but for many there is still little to celebrate.
The numbers of women dying globally during childbirth, in particular, is still a big issue.
New Zealand doctor Clare Mills has returned home after eight years working in countries like Sudan, where the infant and maternal mortality rates are appalling.
"Across the world there's half a million women dying every year," Mills says. "And 99% of those are in countries like Sudan."
South Sudan has been in civil war for the past two decades and the effect of that, especially on women and children, is devastating.
"You see women that have walked three days in labour to come to the hospital or women who lose their uterus because it ruptures because they can't have a caesarean section in time," Mills says.
Women and their babies are dying from simple complications because they lack even basic maternity care. Mills is back in New Zealand to give lectures on these global maternity issues.
"Some of the things that we take very much for granted in New Zealand just aren't available to women globally.
"I think it's important for us to remember that and also to remember that most of these deaths are completely avoidable and preventable and that's something we can all do something about."
