Launched in Tanzania on 17th January 2013, the Mama Ye programme addresses that far too many of our Tanzanian mothers and newborns still die at the very transition of giving and starting life – that is the tragic paradox.
The deep anxieties and unbridled joy of pregnancy and childbirth is very much a part of the lives of each one of us. When a death of the mother and/or newborn happens many of us explain it away as God’s wish; when the mother and baby survive, we thank God. However, how aware are we that in fact most of these lost lives could have been saved?
Every life is precious
Too often the safe motherhood stakeholders communicate the challenges and solutions at a macro-level and in a technical language that can be very disempowering for the largest constituency in saving mothers and babies’ lives – that is the wider community, us.
Yes, progress has been made – the deaths of our mothers have been almost halved over the past twenty years. Yet, the progress that we have made still boils down to the deaths of an estimated 23 mothers and more than 130 newborns every day in today’s Tanzania; furthermore, and most tragically, the majority of whom their lives could be saved should they have timely access to the appropriate care. Visualised in other ways, if you take the average passenger capacity as around thirty for one of our regional planes, then this would be equivalent to five plane crash disasters every day in Tanzania.
Just imagine that was the news we were waking up to everyday. Tanzania would rally together from all walks of life to ensure this needless scale of loss of life was immediately addressed.
And that is the rallying call of the Mama Ye! campaign. It is within our power, indeed a duty of each one of us to personally rally behind and actively contribute to significantly increased and targeted efforts to save the lives of our Tanzanian mothers and newborns. We were all born to a mother; we were all babies. We can all act in numerous ways to make a positive difference to our mothers and babies survival today.
Individual and collective actions save lives
During the launch of the Mama Ye! campaign in Tanzania, Arusha residents turned out in their hundreds to movingly demonstrate just such a personal conviction to make a difference. More than one thousand residents took the action to voluntarily donate their blood knowing that the loss of blood during pregnancy and childbirth, and the timely access to adequate supplies of safe blood, is a leading challenge in maternal survival in Tanzania. Their actions have undisputedly contributed to saving the lives of mothers.
Significantly, their actions should inspire each one of us to ask ourselves how we can emulate these Arusha heroes and heroines?, and in turn take action to ensure that thousands upon thousands more of our mothers and babies survive at that miracle time of giving and starting life.Mama Ye! is a campaign for all of us, by all of us, to ensure Tanzania’s mothers and babies survive pregnancy and childbirth.
Together we are Mama Ye!