Vusumuzi Dube
Robin Muchetu in Binga
THE Government has continued to improve access to maternal health care in Binga through funding initiatives that have ensured safe and timeous deliveries while reducing mortality across the district with only two maternal deaths having so far been recorded.
The two deaths include a case of grand multiparity who was giving birth to her 10th child in her first institutional birth in nine home deliveries. Grand multiparity refers to a woman who has had five to nine more previous deliveries after the second trimester of pregnancy.
The district hospital boasts of the largest waiting mother’s shelter in Zimbabwe handling over 200 women at any given time on a monthly basis. The Provincial Medical Director for Matabeleland North Province Dr Admire Kuretu said waiting mother’s shelters reduce the number of home deliveries and maternal complications.
“This is one of the largest waiting mothers’ shelters in the province and possibly in the country because we have at least 180 women and we go up to more than 200 a month. We are planning on turning it into a mini hospital. We have a nurse who is stationed there permanently. In other shelters, the women go to the antenatal clinic for services but here we have a nurse. We are hoping to have an ultrasound scan installed at the shelter. There is one in the hospital but we need another for the shelter because of the large numbers of pregnant women there,” he said.
Dr Kuretu said the concept of waiting mothers’ shelters reduce the distances that pregnant women travel when they want to deliver adding that the province was vast and some women were travelling 50km to the clinic and 200km after being referred to the district hospital.
He said to cut on that, waiting mothers’ shelters come in handy. He said the province had the largest land area, almost one-third of the county but with a small population of just over 900 000.
“As a result, our people are spread over a large area, and it poses a challenge in reaching those people as it takes a lot of resources to reach them. This is where we appreciate the Government and its partners for the support they give us in closing this gap through the Results Based Health Financing (RBF) model,” he said.
He said the fund was controlled directly by the benefiting institutions and not centralised which allows for flexibility and responsiveness to situations.
“This is a good thing because the clinic personnel know exactly their priority areas and there is input from the communities. Our structures are very old and have not been maintained. With the coming of the funding there has been emphasis on infrastructural development and we are sure we are going to fix leaks, falling ceilings while painting some of our institutions,” he said.
He added that they were coming up with health posts which were even lower than clinics so that if possible mothers deliver at the lowest level.
The acting district medical officer for Binga, Dr Sibonginkosi Ncube said the RBF has allowed them to avail maternity supplies for the over 200 women stationed at the waiting mothers’ shelter at the district hospital as they do not pay for services or sundries.
“In the district, 17 of the health centres out of 23 are able to do deliveries as they are funded by the Government and World Bank project. Only complicated cases are referred to the district hospital,” she said.
Dr Ncube said monthly deliveries at the district hospital stand at 240 with 25 being Caesarian sections. —@NyembeziMu
Online Reporter