Blood shortages fuel maternal deaths—Pachi

Parent and Child Health Initiative (Pachi) has said blood shortages in hospitals remain one of the major contributing factors to prevailing deaths among pregnant women.

Speaking during a recent launch of Pachi’s Mamaye clubs in Kasungu, Mamaye national campaign coordinator Charles Makwenda said citizen participation in blood donation exercises is crucial to saving lives of expectant mothers who rank high among groups that mostly need blood transfusion in health facilities.

“Mamaye clubs are meant to help address issues of shortage of blood which contributes towards death of women in hospitals by encouraging communities to donate blood.

“Nurses and midwives attending to pregnant women in our hospitals need the support of communities. Mamaye campaign is helping to organise communities to support pregnant women,” said Makwenda.

In Kasungu, Mamaye clubs were formed at Chilanga Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) and Kapiri Primary School to encourage dissemination of information on topics such as disadvantages of teen pregnancies, participation in blood donation and the need for pregnant mothers to go to hospital in time.

Makwenda said Mamaye campaign is about making life-saving changes for the country’s mothers and babies at community level, adding the campaign is also meant to encourage accountability on all deaths of pregnant women.

“We need strong linkages for smooth communication between health personnel and communities in order to reduce cases of complications and ensure mothers and babies survive pregnancy and childbirth,” said Makwenda.

Senior Chief Kaomba said Kasungu is one of the districts losing more women due to pregnancy complications.

“The problem of maternal deaths and safe motherhood is here. We have many girls and women dying due to pregnancy complications.  As chiefs, we agreed that the age entering into marriage should be 21. We end any marriage where the husband or wife is less than 21 years of age.

“We are also talking about issues of child spacing in marriages because they have a bearing on maternal mortality. We believe these Mamaye clubs will contribute towards ensuring no mother dies due to pregnancy,” said Kaomba.