Rumphi District Council understands that knowledge is power.
The District Maternal Death Surveillance Response Committee are responsible for gathering information about all the maternal deaths in the district, finding out the causes of death and identifying ways of preventing similar deaths in future.
Their presentation to the Rumphi Health and Environment Committee showed that 44% of maternal deaths are due to sepsis, a severe infection which can be prevented through a clean birth and improved hygiene.
Yohane Kamuona, a member of the District Implementing Team said in his presentation that the causes are mostly due to lack of care of the women at home by the guardians and by the women themselves after delivery and delays in seeking care at a health facility.
Most women delay in seeking attention at a health facility which puts their lives at risk
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Rumphi West Member of Parliament, Honorable Jacqueline Kouwenhoven, said the only way of avoiding such cases was through strengthening the primary health care.
She suggested organizing refresher courses for health surveillance assistants to disseminate and engage communities, pregnant women especially in early health seeking behaviours.
Honorable Kouwenhoven said by strengthening the primary health care and sensitizing the communities on family planning and identifying danger signs soon, the government would be saving a lot of money in the already bad economy.
During the meeting, it was resolved that the district should conduct operational study to determine the cause of sepsis and put in place appropriate interventions to limit its morbidity.
MamaYe Malawi has found that many facilities do not have the key components in place to ensure a clean birth.