Approximately, twenty-three babies are born each day in Narumu and, despite expanding government coverage of maternal and child health care facilities, at least one or two of these children will die every day. Much too often a new or soon-to-be mother will also pass away leaving behind a hole in the lives of her family, friends and community.
Tanzania’s has seen its Maternal Mortality Rate increase to 556 per 100,000 live births in 2015, up from a low of 232. Narumu is one of an alarming number of places in Tanzania that cannot provide even the most basic care that would save mother’s and children’s lives. The majority of babies in Narumu will be born at home or in a tiny two-room health centre that lacks all but the most basic of technology or equipment. Women will travel for hours to arrive at the health centre especially in an emergency and will rarely find the kind of specialist knowledge or equipment that would help them. The most significant causes of maternal mortality and morbidity include haemorrhage, high blood pressure and infections.
In Tanzania, the distance to the nearest hospital has been found to be directly linked the likelihood that a woman will die – that is, the further away from a hospital a pregnant woman lives, the more likely that she will die during childbirth. Travel to the nearest hospital is beyond the means of most of its citizens most of whom are farmers, earning less than a dollar a day and have only primary school education.
It has been shown that when a mother dies in childbirth her children and other family members will be affected economically, will have lower educational outcomes and poorer health. Studies show that maternal health care is essential to ensure mothers and newborns, and by extension, whole families. For a mother to deliver safely, to be alive to care for her new child and to return to her family and community, she needs intensive prenatal and postpartum care.
This is what Tujenge Maisha is trying to achieve. For the women and children living in Narumu, a new, well-equipped health centre will play a vital role in ensuring that girls and women have access to a comprehensive range of services promoting their access to health. The construction of the hospital would complement the Tanzanian governments attempts at expanding health coverage. A health centre will provide family planning and reproductive health services and care for women, newborns and young children and services for others in the community. Tujenge Maisha will facilitate respectful and excellent care that could prevent up to 80 percent of child an newborn deaths. This would mean a child or mother dying would become a rarity and it would allow families and communities to remain intact.
