By Meluse Kapatamoyo
Midwives play a pivotal role in reducing
maternal and child deaths. Unfortunately, inadequate numbers of these essential
health workers remains a challenge in most health institutions around the
country especially those in rural areas.
However, some health centres like the
Kalabo District Hospital located 70 kilometers from Mongu in Western Province
are one of the few institutions lucky enough to have midwives to help with
deliveries.
Since graduating in 2012, 27-year-old
Anifield Siandabile has delivered more than 200 women, helping fill the gap of
midwives at the hospital.
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| Anifield Siandabile |
In addition to training in nursing, in 2012, Anifield
attended a three week course offered by UNFPA in Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal Care (EMOC), a training he says has tremendously improved his trade
and helped save the lives of pregnant women and their babies.
The training covers the child, mother and
all the complications a woman may face when she is pregnant, during labour and
six weeks after delivery, a time when complications are most common.
"On an individual level, compared to the
knowledge I had before and after the training, I am on another level. It has
helped me handle a lot of complicated cases that I would otherwise wait for the
doctor to attend to, putting the life of the woman and her child in danger in
situations when the doctor was unavailable. For example, in cases of prolonged
labour, I am able to do various procedures without calling for a doctor,”
explains Anifield.
Almost two years down the line, Anifield
recommends that the training should not only be restricted to midwives but be
extended to all nurses and health care providers as they too encounter
emergency situations involving pregnant women.
“If the EMOC training is extended, I
believe the country will see a further decrease in women dying from child birth
because all health workers will be equipped and procedures to stop
complications such as bleeding will easily be done.”
He said due to various interventions such
as the introduction of a Health Adversity Committee, which involves traditional
leaders in issues pertaining to maternal health and the presence of an
ambulance donated by UNFPA, Kalabo district hospital had recorded an increase
in women delivering at the institution.
According to the 2013 Kalabo District
Medical Office Report on Communication for Development (C4D), although Kalabo
district faces a challenge of low coverage’s when it comes to some Maternal and
Child Health Indicators, institutional deliveries increased from 52 percent in
2012 to 64 percent in 2013.
"With the health adversity team in place,
the message is getting to women that when they fall sick, they should rush to
the rural health centre and if the nurse available is unable to handle to the
problem, the hospital then sends an ambulance is sent to bring the patient to
the hospital. But I still emphasise that all health workers be trained in EMOC
because sometimes the hospital has challenges with fuel, “said Anifield. PYM
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