Most of us know personally or have heard of a woman who has passed away due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth. The tragic truth is that most of these deaths of our Tanzanian mothers and babies during pregnancy or childbirth are in fact entirely preventable.
Most of us know personally or have heard of a woman who has passed away due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth. The tragic truth is that most of these deaths of our Tanzanian mothers and babies during pregnancy or childbirth are in fact entirely preventable. Whether at Mwananyamala or Nyamagana, Musoma to Mtwara, indeed all corners of this country, we urgently need to act now to save our mothers and babies. Individually and collectively we can and should do something. We were all born to mothers. And that is the call of the Mama Ye! Campaign. Act based on the evidence.Shocking numbersIt is estimated by the WHO that a shocking 8,500 women and 50,000 newborns die during pregnancy and childbirth every year in Tanzania. It is important to clarify that a newborn is a baby aged between 0 – 28 days, including stillbirths. A significant additional number of children under-five die every year in Tanzania (as erroneously referred to in an article posted on Jamii Forums, instead of newborns alone). Importantly, deaths in the first 28 days of life make up nearly one in three of every under-five child death in Tanzania.Five plane crashes!Taking the statistics above of an estimated 8,500 women and 50,000 newborns that die during pregnancy and childbirth every year in Tanzania, this is equivalent to approximately 23 mothers and 137 newborns that die every day. This is a tragic situation, especially given that the majority of these mothers and newborns could survive given access to quality healthcare services. However, it is often very difficult to really appreciate the scale of a situation in everyday life when large statistics are used. As such – an example was provided as a metaphor to illustrate the extent to which we are losing our mothers and babies every day.When flying internally in Tanzania on a typical plane type ATR, there can be around 30 passengers. Hence the imagery used that the deaths of 23 mothers and 137 newborns every day is like the equivalent of five plane crashes every day, whereby one plane the passengers are made up of mothers, and another four planes the passengers are made up of newborns. Presenting it like this is intended to bring clearly home the scale of the tragedy facing families and the nation at large every day. Just imagine if there really were up to five plane crashes every day – there would be total uproar at every level of society, and every effort would be immediately made to stop this tragedy.Where are our women giving birth?To dramatically improve maternal and newborn survival it is crucial that much larger numbers of women seek and have timely access to quality maternal healthcare services. If every mother gave birth in a health facility which provides high quality of care then the majority of mothers and newborns lives whom we are currently losing would be saved. And yet the proportion of women giving birth in a health facility still remains very low: according to the 2010 Tanzanian Demographic Health Survey (TDHS) only one in two of all women give birth in a health facility. Incredibly this crucial intervention that dramatically reduces the risk of a mother and/or baby dying in childbirth has remained largely unchanged for at least 25 years since the first TDHS was conducted in 1990, when similarly only a half of all women were giving birth in a health facility. While as correctly observed by the article there has been a significant increase in the total number of live births delivered in a health facility, however massive population expansion means that the healthcare system has not been able to make any difference to the proportion of women giving birth in a health facility between 1986 and 2010.Everyone has a role to playThe key message is that the majority of Tanzanian mothers and babies whose lives are being lost in pregnancy and childbirth every year could and should be saved. Everyone at all levels of society must be aware of the opportunities to dramatically turnaround this everyday tragedy, and take responsibility by taking action to ensure our mothers and babies survive at this incredible moment of giving life. And now is the time to act.