Monique and the Mango Rains Book by Kris Holloway Research Paper

Introduction

Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years With a Midwife in Mali is a memoir of Kris Holloway’s experiences while in the Peace Corps. Kris joined the Peace Corps at 21 as she went to a village in Nampossela in Mali found in West Africa. Monique Dembele hosted her for the two years she spent there for her tour. Soon Monique and Kris find many challenges in the area (Free Book Summary, 2019). They face maternal morbidity, maternal mortality, and child malnourishment in women and their newborn children (Free Book Summary, 2019). The book shows how Monique initiated the change in maternal health care for the women in Nampossela. The state of maternal health care in the book is quite similar to that of the United States. This is because the maternal disparities and morbidity are both related to racial disparities and ethnic differences in both cases.

Review

Monique was the midwife and the sole healthcare worker in her village, with only six-grade education and nine months of medical training. She specialized in women’s well-being, the providence of prenatal discussions, supported women in labor to deliver babies. Besides, she provided checkups and vaccinations. The birthing house was a small makeshift building made of mud bricks, a leaky tin roof, and a concrete table where women would lay to give birth. There was no access to running water, no accessible ambulances to take the women to health care facilities, and minimal emergency medical supplies and vaccines (Free Book Summary, 2019). It was typical for Malian women to have many pregnancies when young while working long hours with little to no prenatal care. One out of twelve Malian women risk dying during pregnancy or die while giving birth due to intense, uncontrollable bleeding, contamination, and starvation.

Furthermore, children faced a similar fate; if they did not die at birth, two out of five would die before age five from infection and malnourishment ((Free Book Summary, 2019). birth control methods and information were taboo topics, and women had no choice in the matter (Free Book Summary, 2019). She was well-informed about birth control; for instance, Monique would be on birth control without her husband noticing.

Monique was brilliant and was seemingly evident in the book. She strived to improve both the women’s and infants’ health. To the best of her knowledge, she understood women’s bodies and could not cope with the rate of pregnancies since most of them were unhealthy. She also knew that children’s nutrition needed to be addressed to maintain their healthy growth and development and reduce the number of infant deaths (Free Book Summary, 2019). She acknowledged that Malian females were uneducated on women’s health and did not know how to prevent and cure desiccation in newborns. Together with Holloway, they used the birthing house as a clinic and have women bring their infants for a health check (Free Book Summary, 2019). She was innovative and observed ways of making health charts simple to understand for young mothers. The techniques included educating them on how to take care of their infants by majoring in symptoms of dehydration, food preparation for their babies, purified water, and the benefits of self-care to new mothers about their baby’s health (Free Book Summary, 2019). Monique would schedule follow-up appointments with them and made sure to remind them to come back for their checkups, vaccines, and baby weight monitoring. Apart from the maternal health care services, women were educated on birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancies, especially in young women.

The continued disparity in maternal mortality in the United States for Black women compared to caucasians and women of other races seems to be increasing (Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2019). Besides, in the United States, there is an increase in maternal mortality compared to other developed countries. The rates implicate significant racial inequalities between caucasian women and their counterparts. Furthermore, the risk for maternal mortality leads among non-Hispanic black women compared with non-Hispanic white women (Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2019). Although most maternal deaths are avoidable, the emphasis states maternal disparities as a significant health problem in the United States.

Mother and Baby Discrepancies in the US Today

Little has changed in the maternal health care sector in the US. This fact not surprising because while other countries improve their maternal healthcare system, there is still little to no change in the US for maternal mortality over the past decade (Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2019). It is a worrying statistic mainly because it has been increasing over the past decade (Novoa & Taylor, 2018). In contrast, in other countries such as Rwanda and Greece, the maternal mortality rate has gone down (Ritchie, 2020). At first, the maternal mortality rate was linked to developed countries, but studies have shown otherwise (Ritchie, 2020). The maternal mortality rate is independent of the country’s economic status; hence, both low-income countries and high-income countries have been able to lower their maternal mortality rates.

Discrimination against Women of Color

There was an indication of discrimination in the book where white women had more access to healthcare and other maternal requirements such as prenatal checkups, the proper medication, and the correct aftercare. This was not the case for women of color because the same healthcare services are not accorded to them (Maternal Health Task Force, 2018). It is also shown in the book as Kris works with Monique to help the Malian women access these fundamental human rights during maternity. This number, specific to women of color, has been skyrocketing over the past decade as well (Novoa & Taylor, 2018). It is even more concerning that, as a woman of color, discrimination is bound to follow even into the maternity ward. This causes more maternity death cases than white women (Anekwe, 2020). This can only be changed once maternal health care is affordable and to all women.

Little to No Knowledge of the Women

There is still little effort made in trying to teach women about their maternal care and their options. Maternal care is a vast topic to cover. Women have not made an effort to educate themselves from the many sources available to get information from, especially the internet. The maternal health sector also offers minimal education on pregnancy and maternal care (Maternal Health Task Force, 2018). This is an effort made, but in the US, many women are illiterate and may not be able to get information or may not understand the information being given to them. (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2018). It is critical to ensure that women know their rights regarding maternal health care and what to expect during the experience.

Women suffer because of their little knowledge of the possible complications that arise during their pregnancy trimesters. They do not understand what they are going through, especially in their second and third trimesters. Several body changes occur, and complications may arise if the woman does not know what to do to take care of her and the baby. This information is vital and could be the difference between life and death for both the mother and the child. The health facilities take advantage of the fact that they do not fully educate women and make some decisions for them in coercion (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2018a). This makes it harder for women to get proper healthcare that favors them and put their needs first.

Solutions for the Maternal Health Care in the US

The discrepancies in the US concerning maternal health are not going to change unless significant changes and solutions are made. The biggest problem facing women is illiteracy, lack of knowledge, and racial and ethnic discrimination in hospitals (Maternal Health Task Force, 2018). Its implementation leads to a decline in the maternal mortality rate in the US and decreasing the number of deaths.

Educating women on other delivery services such as midwives

This idea is mainly targeted to women of color who face discrimination, even in the labor room where they need their voices to be heard the most. To avoid all that, most of those women have started turning to midwives to handle their deliveries (Murphy, 2018). Getting a midwife is a good idea for women who do not feel safe in the delivery rooms and seem to have a nagging feeling that something is not being done right that could potentially put her and the child at risk.

Midwives are trained professionals that have either practice in a hospital setting or have learned through experience, otherwise known as apprenticeship. It equates to Monique’s case, who also learned her skills during her training to become a midwife in their village. Both types of midwives are highly qualified to handle deliveries in their homes with little to no complications (Murphy, 2018). However, the women are advised to go for checkups to ensure they have a low-risk pregnancy term before deciding to get a midwife to handle their delivery.

Apart from women feeling comfortable while being handled by midwives, other benefits accompany the choice of having a midwife for your delivery. Midwives are trained to listen to the mother’s needs thus are more careful when handling their pregnancies and are not dismissive over the mothers’ concerns, however insignificant they may seem (Murphy, 2018). Midwives allow women to make their own decisions over their health and the babies’ health, unlike in hospitals where women are not entirely entitled to their own health choices. In severe cases, that choice can be ultimately be taken away for discriminatory reasons such as false implications of drug usage on the mother that get their children taken away (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2018). Finally, getting a midwife to handle your delivery feels more personal to the mothers, and they don’t feel like just any patient to them, unlike in hospitals.

The only problem facing women of color who want to give birth with a midwife’s help is that only a tiny percentage of mid-wives are people of color. Women who have given birth with the help of midwives have reported feeling more at ease if their delivery is handled by someone who looks like them (Murphy, 2018). It just makes them more comfortable with someone who relates to them.

Educate the mother-to-be about the possible complications of pregnancy

Most healthcare facilities may sugarcoat the possible effects and complications tied to childbirth. This information is supposed to be covered in prenatal classes, which some health care facilities do not offer (Maternal Health Task Force, 2018). Health facilities need to offer prenatal classes for pregnant women and educate them on pregnancy complications that they may face during each of the trimesters (Carroll, 2017). The book shows how the Malian women had no idea that maternal health care was one of their fundamental rights. This made it harder for Monique and Kris to help in reducing the number of women dying after giving birth or losing their children.

One of the complications of pregnancy can be anemia. Anemia is when the red blood cells count in the body is lower than usual and can be treated by supplements if detected early enough. Pregnancy may affect the mother’s mental health causing depression in the mother. Pregnancy depression is often an indication of postpartum depression (Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, 2019). Urinary tract diseases are also a common complication associated with pregnancy and are easily treatable with prescribed antibiotics. High blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes are also other lifestyle diseases that may arise with pregnancy but are manageable when eating healthy and working through a meal program with your health officer (Wellington A, 2017). The complications complicate the situation for females to pass a bill of health examination.

In conclusion, most of the difficulties addressed concerning the US health care system are similar to those found in the book. The same problems in the book are seen in equal proportions in the US maternal health care where the racial and ethnic differences play a significant role in women getting and even affording health care. Once women are educated and maternal health care is made accessible for all women regardless of color, maybe then there will be an ounce of change.

References

Anekwe, L. (2020). Ethnic disparities in maternal care. BMJ, 368. Web.

Carroll, A. E. (2017). Why Is US maternal mortality rising? JAMA, 318(4), 321. Web.

Center for Diseases Control and Prevention. (2019). Pregnancy complications | maternal and infant health | CDC.

Centers for Disease Control Prevention. (2019). Pregnancy mortality surveillance system. centers for disease control and prevention.

Free Book Summary. (2019). Review of Monique and the Mango Rains | FreebookSummary. Study Guides and Book Summaries.

Maternal Health Task Force. (2018). Maternal health in the United States. Maternal Health Task Force.

Murphy, C. (2018). Midwives are growing in popularity: Here’s what you need to know. Healthline.

National Partnership for Women & Families. (2018a). Black Women’s Maternal Health: a multifaceted approach to addressing persistent and dire health disparities background: black maternal health disparities. National partnership for women and families.

National Partnership for Women & Families. (2018b). Black women’s maternal health: a multifaceted approach to addressing persistent and dire health disparities background: black maternal health disparities. National partnership for women and families

Novoa, C., & Taylor, J. (2018). Exploring African Americans’ high maternal and infant death rates.

Ritchie, H. (2020). Exemplars in global health: Which countries are most successful in preventing maternal deaths? Our World in Data. Web.

Taylor, J., Novoa, C., Hamm, K., Phadke, S., & Tama, M. (2019). Eliminating racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality a comprehensive policy blueprint www.Americanprogress.Org.

Wellington, A (2017). Maternal mortality literature review. Researchgate.