VOA标准英语2012--Saving the Lives of Mothers and Babies

Saving the Lives of Mothers and Babies

A medical aid group says every day about one thousand women worldwide die in childbirth or from complications related to pregnancy¹. Doctors Without Borders says most of those deaths can be prevented. It’s released a new report on the problem to coincide with International Women’s Day, March 8.

The report is called Maternal² Death: The Avoidable Crisis. Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, says at least 15 percent of all pregnant women worldwide encounter a life-threatening complication. It says pregnant women are even more vulnerable during conflicts or crises.

Critical moment

Catrin Shulte-Hillen is the head of MSF’s Sexual and Reproductive Health International Working Group. She’s also a midwife. She said delivery is the most critical moment for saving the lives of both mother and child.

“When it goes right it’s beautiful. It’s a wonderful event. It brings you to tears because it’s such a beautiful event. When it’s wrong it’s chaotic,” she said.

Chaos³ comes from complications.

“They have such a symbiotic⁴ situation. If the mom is bad, the mom is exhausted⁵; the baby doesn’t get enough oxygen. The baby suffers also. So the problem is as soon as you have a delivery that doesn’t go very spontaneously, very easily. The uterus doesn’t want to contract. She starts bleeding. You concentrate on the mother. The baby doesn’t breathe. That’s where it all accumulates,” she said.

Five main reasons are given for potentially deadly complications: hemorrhaging, sepsis or infection, unsafe abortions⁶, eclampsia or hypertension and obstructed⁷ labor⁸.

High standards

Shulte-Hillen says it’s uncommon⁹ for a woman to die in childbirth in developed nations. But when it does happen, health officials want to know why.

“Today in any hospital if there’s a maternal death there’s a commission that’s put up to investigate exactly what went wrong. That’s how seriously we take the fact that a woman dies in childbirth. And if you look at that in comparison to what happens in a large part of the world where it just gets completely unaccounted for,” she said.

Shulte-Hillen said MSF has high standards for maternal care, even in conflict zones or areas hit by natural disasters.

“We expect that in an MSF hospital you do not lose mothers. And we do the same thing we do in Europe. We have a commission. We get the whole staff together and do an analysis (on) why did this happen,” she said.

The Doctors Without Border’s report stated the solution is straightforward¹⁰: skilled medical staff, drugs and equipment. It’s based on the group’s programs in 12 countries, including South Sudan, Haiti, Pakistan and Somalia.

In conflict zones like Somalia, health care infrastructure¹¹ has been destroyed. Little medicine is available and trained medical professionals are often forced to flee. Similar conditions existed in Ivory Coast in early 2011, when political violence spread across the country. MSF describes Afghanistan as one of the most dangerous places in the world for a woman to give birth.

First things first

Shulte-Hillen said if or when the situation stabilizes¹², then comprehensive post-natal care, family planning and health education can be provided.

“The best that we can do as a medical organization is to be there today with assistance that is lifesaving,” she said.

Doctors Without Borders provides obstetric care in about 30 countries. It says in 2010, its medical teams delivered more than 150,000 babies.

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 symbiotic   

adj.共栖的，共生的

参考例句：

• Racing has always had a symbiotic relationship with betting.赛马总是与赌博相挂钩。
• Engineering completely new symbiotic relationship is obviously not an imminent possibility.筹划完全新的共生关系显然是可能性不大。

5 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

6 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

7 obstructed   

阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• Tall trees obstructed his view of the road. 有大树挡着，他看不到道路。
• The Irish and Bristol Channels were closed or grievously obstructed. 爱尔兰海峡和布里斯托尔海峡或遭受封锁，或受到了严重阻碍。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

10 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 stabilizes   

n.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的名词复数 )v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The broadbased attachment of the mesenteric root stabilizes the small bowel. 肠系膜根部基底宽阔的附着面使小肠得以稳定。 来自辞典例句
• The available supply of industrial product and produce stabilizes growth. 工业品与农产品的有效供给稳定增长。 来自互联网