Mothers ride for life

Ambulance services offer life-saving rides to pregnant women affected by Cyclone Freddy, writes UNFPA Communications Analyst JOSEPH SCOTT.

Having given birth four times, Mercy Chintengo, 37, thought she knew it all.

 “But this pregnancy was something else. I was growing so big and even failing to walk!” says the woman from Marka in Nsanje at the southern tip of Malawi.

Chintengo did not know that she was carrying twins until she visited her nearest health centre when labour pains kicked in.

However, her happiness was short lived as healthcare staff could not help her deliver safely at Ndamera Health Centre along the border with Mozambique due to lack of electricity.

Risky dilemma

For two weeks, Ndamera Health Centre operated without electricity after Cyclone Freddy had destroyed the power transmission lines on the national grid.

Nsanje District Hospital was the only one with power back-up to help Chintengo deliver safely, but the rural health centre also had no ambulance.

She had to either walk about 40 kilometres to the district hospital or ride on her family’s bicycle.

As both options would have led to deadly delays since she was in deep pain, they had to call for an ambulance from the district hospital.

“The news of twins was exciting and bit scary at the same time,” she says. “I couldn’t wait to hold the babies in my hands but I knew I had to deliver safely first. But there was no ambulance to take me to the main hospital.”

By a stroke of luck, an ambulance from Nsanje District Health Office that had just been serviced with support from UNFPA, had just returned from the garage. It was immediately dispatched to Ndamera Health Centre, where Chintengo was temporarily admitted.

Double joy

The two-hour journey to the district hospital was never smooth, but they made it safely and Chintengo gave birth to  two healthy boys at the district hospital.

Just after dropping Chintengo, the ambulance hit the road again to collect another woman in labour at one of the sprouting camps for displaced persons.

This time, the distance was not long, but the expectant woman, Kerita Rabson, required immediate assistance.

She had earlier in the day taken part in an event where UNFPA was distributing dignity kits and never thought she would go into labour that soon.

“We are living rough at the camp,” said Rabson, who experienced labour two weeks to the expected date of delivery. “We sleep on a bare floor and the rainy season is still with us. I think these conditions contributed to my early labour.”

After delivering safely, she thanks the health workers for reacting fast to call for an ambulance and UNFPA for the dignity kit.

“My husband had a stall in the market and it was blown off. Now, he has nothing,” Rabson said. “If it wasn’t for the items from the dignity kit, I couldn’t even have afforded to look this smart.”

She uses the cloth from the dignity bucket to keep her child warm. 

In February, a month before the cyclone struck, Nsanje District Hospital delivered 325 babies, but the count increased to 390 babies in March.

A stitch in time

As part of its Cyclone Freddy response, UNFPA through the Umoyo Wathu programme, has supported the district hospital to service four ambulances that were grounded.

This included buying new tyres, batteries and paying for the mechanical services. UNFPA also procured fuel for the main hospital back-up generator to provide uninterrupted power.

This has allowed for continuity of critical services such as Caesarean section at the maternity ward where Chintengo gave birth. Umoyo Wathu supports a package of system strengthening initiatives at the district level across maternal, neonatal and child health services and has a component to strengthen preparedness and response. It is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.—UNFPA Malawi