The Risky Business of Making Babies

There’s no shortage of work in the Democratic Republic of Congo for pediatricians. The median age of the country’s 65 million population is around 16, and the population growth rate is 3.22% (population growth in Japan, Italy, Germany and Russia is negative; population growth in Liberia is 4.5%, Ireland 1.77%, India 1.46% and the United States 0.97%).

The DRC’s myriad health problems, however, mean life is especially tough (and risky) for the country’s children. While the infant mortality rate in the United States is 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births (and the U.S. ranks an unimpressive 29th in infant mortality statistics; Singapore ranks first at 2.0; Hong Kong next at 2.5 and Japan third at 2.8), in the DRC 88.62 children of every 1,000 live births die before reaching their first birthdays.

In addition, about 510 women die per 100,000 births, and since the average Congolese woman gives birth to more than six children, baby making is risky business.

The children, if they survive their first year, can look forward to the very good possibility that at some point in the near future they’ll need medical attention for cholera, malaria, meningitis, tuberculosis or that old Congolese standby, malnutrition.

I shot these photos in the MSF hospital in Bunia, in Ituri province, accompanying Dr. Dede Sapo Mudinga on his rounds. Bunia is quiet now, but has seen more than its share of killing during the past 10 years, and is now the base of operations for a significant United Nations peacekeeping force.

Hatari Ya Kufa

Snapped this danger sign on the door of an electrical closet in a hospital in North Kivu (eastern Congo).

Since 1998, millions (that's a word worth rereading when applied to human lives rather than government bailout funds) of people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of war injuries (gunshots, stabbings, burns and more), disease and starvation. In a series of mortality studies, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimated that 3.3 million people died in Congo between 1998 and 2002 alone as a consequence of war.

Since that time, the death toll in Congo has slowed, but remains horrific (today an estimated 1,000-1,200 Congolese die EVERY DAY from violence, disease or starvation ... compare that to the death toll on 9/11 if you believe human lives should be valued somewhat equally). The majority of deaths are from diseases that are preventable and easily treatable. If only people had access to clean water and reliable medical care.

The malnutrition is mostly a result of people's fear. Where there is fighting, people can't cultivate the land. They hide instead, hoping to stay alive until the next period of relative peace. And of course it's children who suffer the most from malnutrition, since their bodies have very specific needs in order to grow. More on malnutrition in a later post ...

"Hatari Ya Kufa"? Yes, but electrocution is the least of your worries if you're living in the Congo.