KARONGA: Pregnant women from rural areas in Malawi have asked government through the Ministry of health to reverse its decision of restricting the Traditional Birth Attendances (TBAs) in carrying their respective duties rather than professionalizing them claiming that the development is jeopardizing the process of reaching zero maternal and neonatal death in the country.
According to some of the concerned women who talked to Maravi Post in a random interviews including Emily Mwafongo from Kasowa village in the area of Traditional Authority Kyungu in Karonga and Mariam Saidi of Jangiya village in the area of Traditional Authority Chiwawula in Mangochi, government would have first deal with the problems that are making expectant mother to deliver in the hands of TBAs before issuing a ban.
They said lack of maternal and neonatal health services in the rural areas in the country, are the major problems that forces pregnant women to deliver at TBAs and not deliberately hence the restriction is fueling to unsafely home delivery thereby increasing maternal and neonatal death.
“We know that government banned the TBAs due to the report that they were fueling to the increase of maternal and neonatal death in the country, however, the decision was not a solution to a problem especially because the tendency still continues,” they worried.
“Just imagine, at Kasowa health center which is about 16 kilometers to Karonga district hospital. The facility have reasonable maternal wing and decent workers’ houses unfortunately there is no health personnel working here as they all deny coming here due to its environment. So the only alternative measure for pregnant women to deliver safely is through the Traditional Authority Attendances therefore the restriction has brought disaster,” said Mwafongo.
“For instance, as am talking seven pregnant women have lost their lives within the period of six months due to the problem. Now the question that government should answer itself is that if the TBAs would have helped these women what would have been the result?” she queries.
Lincy Mwambyali who is among the 18 flood victims pregnant women at Zindi camp in Karonga district said “like here at the camp, health personnel are not visiting us and likewise we are also failing to go to the hospital too due to the distance therefore our only solution will be the TBAs.”
They therefore concluded that “the best thing that government should do is to sensitize the TBAs so that they can do their job in other circumstances especially where the certified health personnel are at distance thereby serving the lives of pregnant women in the rural areas.”
In his remarks, Karonga District Health Officer Dr Charles Sungani while failing to deny the call said there is a need to increase the capacity of health infrastructures to match the current population.
“For your information, we usually registered about 300 pregnant women per day and 3 to 400 new born children per month only at the district hospital so the current infrastructure is small to accommodate this figure,” said Sungani.
The minister of health Dr Peter Kumpalume while acknowledging the problems face the community in the rural areas assured them that the problem will soon be a history.
“As a ministry, we know that a lot of officers deny to work in rural areas because of its environment, however, with the current system of advertising the vacant post in all health centers that government has put forward, we believe that the problem will be a history,” assured Kumpalume.
Meanwhile, the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS) in Karonga in partnership with the Adventist Health Services (AHS) with a 1.3 billion Malawi Kwacha financial support from the Christian Aids and UK Aid Match is carrying a Leaching to Mother and Child Project in the district were TBAs are being trained to be advisors in order to curb the maternal and neonatal death apart from sensitizing traditional leaders, youths, men as well as the media to take part.
