Malawi: The healthcare stakeholders of Malawi have observed an increasing trend of home births in Mang’omba at TA Kapeni. According to the medical stakeholders, almost 12 percent of pregnant women give birth at home.
Alternately, they are forced to give birth in transit to Limbe Health Centre, which is one of the few health centres near the traditional authority. The Nurse In- Charge at the facility, Grace Yakobe has claimed that the situation was worrisome.
She expressed the concern on Thursday in Blantyre during a maternity open day and outreach services. The event was hosted in the Mang’omba area in the district.
The Nurse said that they are experiencing increased cases of maternal and neonatal problems. This compelled Limbe Health Centre with support from its partners to hold the open day and outreach services.
“From what we found, in Mang’omba, women do start antenatal clinic when the pregnancy is at an advanced stage, probably in the third trimester, while some pregnant women choose to come to the health facility only when it’s time for delivery.
“We discovered that women do deliver at home or before their arrival at the hospital. For this, we found that statistically, from every 100 pregnant women, 12 of them deliver at home, which is an alarming rate,” Yakobe said.
Nurse In-Charge attributed the situation to the long distances that expectant mothers travel to access maternal and neonatal services at Limbe Health Centre.
“For one to arrive at the Limbe health facility, it means she has to ride a motorbike and then connect to a minibus at Chigumula to reach the health centre, which is a considerable distance. We wish there could be a health facility constructed in this area to ease mobility challenges,” she suggested.
Yakobe said it was her wish see every expectant woman was being attended to by a skilled health attendant at the hospital to prevent maternal-related complications other than women delivering at home or on the way.
One of the pregnant women, Tiyanjane Kansunje from the Mang’omba area, said long distances to Limbe Health Centre forced her to deliver her first child at home with the help of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).
She said there was need to lobby for support to build a health facility within their reach to access maternal and neonatal services easily.