Needlessly dying to give birth

Mmegi Editor | Wednesday September 16, 2015 16:20

Some died from health care providers’ lack of skill, absence of emergency triage, poor monitoring, poor documentation, stock-outs and delayed referrals.

A study also found that poor communication between colleagues in the same health facility, which include doctors and nurses within the referral chain and of different specialties, was also contributing to maternal deaths.

All this is apart from the health conditions, level of preparation, distance travelled and other patient-related factors that usually determine whether a mother and child will emerge healthy from the maternity ward or not.

Each year since independence, the national budget has prioritised the provision of primary, secondary and specialised health care, enabling the country to grow a healthy population.

Even the HIV/AIDS epidemic, at its worst in the 1990s, did not collapse the health care sector, although by leading to the diversion of some funds, it did reduce the quality of care for some.

Today, Botswana has made significant strides in achieving the health targets of the Millennium Development Goals and is among countries on the continent viewed globally as having the best chances of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Within the health sector, however, stubborn challenges admittedly persist and the statistics and issues highlighted by the article elsewhere in this issue are indicative of this.

Other data from the Ministry of Health indicate that abortions are a leading cause of maternal deaths, pointing to the kaleidoscopic nature of the challenges bearing down on pregnant women in this country.

Many presenting for assistance are poor single mothers. Many others travel great distances for health care and many more cannot afford pre-natal care and are thus unable to identify health warning signs on their own.

As noted by health experts in our article, each and every single maternal death is a “litmus test of the status of women, their access to health care and the adequacy of the health care system in responding to their needs”.

Triage, or the system for determining priority of cases, in most public hospitals leaves a lot to be desired, as expectant mothers do not often receive the priority that recognises that a pregnancy can easily result in death to both mother and infant.

With public health facilities congested, staff frustrated and equipment and supplies in short supply, it is no wonder that expectant mothers experience long delays in receiving attention and when they do, it is of a poor quality.

We sincerely hope that Health Minister, Dorcas Makgato, who has enjoyed the Midas’ touch in her previous portfolio assignments, will shine much needed relief on this area of the health sector.