Health officials in Torit County of Eastern Equatoria State are urging expectant women to visit health facilities for prenatal care and delivery to reduce maternal mortality in the county.
Jacob Okolong, the chairperson of the Nurses and Midwives Association in the state and head of the midwifery department at the Torit State Hospital made the remarks during the commemoration of the International Day of the Midwife on Thursday.
Although the state plans to celebrate the day on the 12th of May, Okolong told Radio Tamazuj that many women continue to lose their lives after seeking medical attention following labor complications.
“There are still people who deliver in homes. They encounter many challenges because they can bleed and it can lead to loss of life. Some are performing unsafe abortions, after initiating it, they rush to the hospital bleeding,” Okolong said. “The message is clear, all should see that the hospital is the only place you can get help.”
A midwife at Torit Hospital, Soba Kuje, underscores the importance of visiting a health facility during pregnancy.
“As a midwife, we do health education for mothers. In my department, the antenatal department, we prepare pregnant women for delivery. when the time comes we send them to the maternity wing. We also help them and teach them how to maintain personal hygiene and we teach them what to eat during pregnancy because if they don’t feed they might end up getting malnutrition or even anaemia,” Kuje said.
Keji Rose, also a midwife there, said they are preparing for the celebrations to be held next week.
For her part, Aringo Doreen is calling on the government to avail funds to facilitate midwifery services in the state.
South Sudan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. A woman has a one-in-28 chance of dying from pregnancy-related causes in her lifetime, according to the World Health Organization.
The International Day of the Midwife is celebrated annually on 5 May, providing the opportunity to honor the work of midwives, and promote awareness of the crucial care that midwives provide to mothers and their newborns.
This year marks the establishment, 100 years ago, of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). There are currently 143 Midwives’ Associations representing 124 countries worldwide, including the Confederation of African Midwives Associations (CONAMA), which was inaugurated in 2013.