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http://www.unfpa.org/news/safe-haven-pregnant-women-somalia
Somalia – Maternity Waiting Center in Displacement Camp – Services & Safety
Women
obtain health services at a maternity waiting home in a Mogadishu displacement
camp. © UNFPA Somalia/Ruth Solomon
By
Pilirani Semu-Banda – 12 January 2015
MOGADISHU,
Somalia – In the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, 29-year-old Sharifa
Abdullahi held her newborn with a growing sense of awe – and triumph. She had
just survived a gruelling 18-hour labour that could have taken her life and the
life of her daughter.
Ms.
Abdullahi lives in the Hodan displacement camp, a dusty settlement in Mogadishu
where thousands of families crowd into makeshift shelters. As in much of
Somalia, health services in the camp are limited. Two years before, lacking proper
care, Ms. Abdullahi had lost her first pregnancy to complications. She feared
her second pregnancy might end the same way.
But
this time, she was able to seek care from a “maternity waiting home” that was
established in the Hodan settlement in early 2013. It is one of 34 such
facilities in Somalia, which provide a range of health services to expectant
mothers. And in their last month of their pregnancy, women are invited to stay
in the waiting homes under the care and observation of skilled birth attendants.
Ms.
Abdullahi chose to lodge in the Hodan waiting home at the end of her pregnancy.
When she went into labour, the health workers recognized something was amiss.
They transferred her to the nearest hospital, where her daughter was safely
delivered by Caesarean section.
A pregnant woman experiencing labour complications is
transferred to a hospital from a maternity waiting home. © UNFPA Somalia/Ruth
Solomon
“I was
lucky that I had gone into the maternity waiting home before labour even
started,” said Ms. Abdullahi. “The health specialists were able to monitor my
pregnancy as I approached labour. They quickly made a decision to transfer me
to a hospital after noticing complications.”
A
dangerous enterprise
Motherhood can be a
dangerous enterprise in Somalia, where almost three decades of conflict have
left the health system in tatters. There are about 1.1 million displaced people in Somalia, many of
them living in camps.
Over a Somali woman’s
lifetime, she will face a one in 18 chance of dying from causes related to
pregnancy or childbirth – the second highest lifetime maternal death risk in
the world. The situation is grim for children, as well: Somalia has the
world’s fourth highest child mortality
rate.
The maternity
waiting homes were created to help improve the odds for women and their babies.
Predominantly located in displacement settlements, these facilities offer
essential care to expectant mothers at all stages of pregnancy. Women are
encouraged to visit the waiting homes as soon as they realize they are
pregnant, so they can receive antenatal care and advice on how to stay healthy.
Women
in the final stages of pregnancy can stay in a room at the waiting home, where
they enjoy free meals and ultimately deliver under the care of a skilled birth
attendant.
If a
problem is detected, as in Ms. Abdullahi’s case, the women are referred to a
nearby hospital for higher-level care, said Samia Hassan, UNFPA’s humanitarian
coordinator in Somalia.
Women queue for health services at a maternity waiting home in
Somalia. © UNFPA Somalia/Ruth Solomon
“The
[maternity waiting home] project was designed to provide timely referrals of
complicated cases to hospitals while non-complicated cases are handled at the
[waiting homes],” said Dr. Hassan.
“A big
success”
The waiting homes – which are run by six local partners, with
support from UNFPA and the health ministry – have
performed 30,000 health consultations in the past year alone, Dr. Hassan said.
“To
date, 16,724 pregnant women delivered in the maternity waiting homes, and over
1,300 pregnancy and childbirth complications were identified and referred for
further management and care,” she added.
“The
project is a big success. For instance, it was really great to hear a religious
leader in the Rabitug [displacement] camp telling us that the number of
funerals he has administered after a maternity waiting home came to his
settlement has reduced very much,” she said.
The
waiting homes also fill a critical gap in the country’s health system, which
lacks enough hospitals to accommodate the needs of all women.
“The maternity waiting
homes are taking the pressure off our few hospitals, and a lot of women are
being saved from dying in childbirth,” said Naima Abdulkadir Mohamed, the health ministry's reproductive health director.