Fighting Maternal Mortality in the Remote Ango Region of D.R. Congo

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Marie Ndubo has been delivering babies for more than 40 years. The 68-year-old widow, now an assistant midwife, began her career as a "traditional birth attendant" when she was barely 20, shadowing her mother, also a birth attendant. She laughs as she reminisces how much her work has changed over the years. "Of course there were no clinics in those days," says Marie. "When women went into labour, they called me to their homes where I would deliver the babies." There were no delivery materials either, not even razor blades. "To cut the umbilical cord, we made strings out of the bark of palm trees," says Marie. "As you can imagine, it was not easy." Marie works in Ango territory, a remote area in eastern D.R. Congo which suffers from chronic underdevelopment and poor road networks. Regular attacks from Lord's Resistance Army rebels have led to the displacement of 300,000 people from their homes, 28,000 of whom are in Ango territory. The health system has suffered as well. Access to essential medicines and materials is difficult and qualified personnel have fled from some of the clinics. Six years ago, when the Dafia clinic in Ango territory opened its doors, the staff asked Marie to join the team as an assistant midwife. Each month, she delivers between 10 and 15 babies. "People keep coming back because they have faith in me," says Marie. "I make them feel comfortable and they know that they can trust me." "We offered Marie the job at the clinic to reduce the risks of complications that are common during home deliveries and to help prevent deadly infections in newborns," says Christian Kilibinge, head nurse at the clinic. "We want to encourage as many women as possible to give birth at the clinic where it's safe." Since Medair started working in the Ango region in January 2011, we have provided obstetric and maternal health care training to more than 50 health practitioners such as Marie, including nurses and midwives, with the aim of reducing deaths of mothers and newborns during deliveries. We are also providing training on the prevention and treatment of childhood illnesses, malaria, and the proper management of medicine. This project is supported by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID). "Complications during and after delivery are the leading cause of maternal deaths in developing countries," says Ellen Stamhuis, Medair's Health Project Manager in Ango. "That is why we insist that midwives and nurses get the proper training to identify risk factors early enough. We have observed a significant improvement in the quality of deliveries done by health practitioners who have attended the training." Marie benefited greatly from the training. "Now I know how to look for positive signs that determine whether the delivery will go well or signs of trouble that indicate that the patient will need special care," she says, pointing to the partogram, a chart she has been trained to use to determine the progress of delivery and to detect complications. "There is still a lot to be done, but clinic deliveries that are done according to good standards will essentially help to reduce maternal mortality among women," concludes Ellen. __________________________________________________________________________ Medair's programme in Ango is supported by the United States Agency for International Development, the Pooled Fund, and private donors. Read more about Medair's activities in D.R. Congo. This web update was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organisation.