Yaoli: Why Maternal Health?

We moved recently to a new house late February. When my mother first toured with the real estate agent, she did not notice his animated speech about the newness of the wood floors. Nor did she pay attention to his zealous discussion over the finished basement and the recently updated water softener system. She peered out into the yard and instead of grass and weeds, she was struck by a vision. She pictured flowers bordering the fence, the barbecue pit scrubbed so it gleamed in the sun, and a bountiful garden nurturing baby vegetables springing from the earth. My mother was sold.

On March she began to work towards realizing her dreams. She bought seeds from the local plant nursery. She airated the earth, fenced up a square patch of earth where sunlight shone the fullest, and carefully placed each seed its into its earthly bed before blanketing them with a handful of soil. The rows were neatly arranged and labeled and everyday she faithfully watered them. The radishes, which preferred shade and cooler temperatures, germinated first. Everyday, my mom and my sister worked in the backyard, eagerly charting their progress, noting the number of new leaves and how much taller they grew.

By the time I had gotten back from college early May, it was ready for us the reap the fruits of our first harvest. My sister, though she did not find the planting process terribly engaging, was eager to uproot the plants. Her little fingers grasped around a large, robust plant and plucked it from the ground. Then her little nose wrinkled as she examined the radish before her. An inverted iceberg, it was large, green, bushy on top, but for all its magnificient crown, the real treasure was no bigger than a marble. Kimmie pulled out another, and then another. All the same.

My mother decided to go to the library and consult some gardening books. The reason, she learned, was that she had planted the radishes too closely together. Plants, like all other organisms, are complex organisms very in tune with their environmental conditions. Under certain situtations, they may bear large, bountiful fruit, but in other cases, they may divert their energy to growing leaves only.

People, too, thrive under the right conditions and do poorly in others. We settle in large masses by plentiful soil and near bodies of water. Mothers who were well nourished in pregnancy can afford to expend more energy for their babies. Well nourished babies in turn are shown to have less predisposition towards cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders. The benefits of a stronger body and better passive immunity factors from mom means a stronger immune system and a greater chance for survival. A baby is most vulnerable in the first year of life and infant diarrheal disorders have claimed the lives of many. The three brief trimesters spent in a mother's womb is precious time. Time for organ development, rapid growth, for laying down the foundations to a potentially long and healthy life. It is not enough to bury the seeds and water them. We must invest energy and care, for these nine months are the most crucial nine months of a person's life.

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