In April we admitted 11 babies (10 orphans, which included one set of twins) and one baby without breast milk. The 9 mothers died from: 5 from postpartum hemorrhage, 3 from unknown causes and 1 from postpartum sepsis.
We are following 233 babies and 21 women. Nurses conducted 155 visits to babies and women in their communities this month. 477 tins of formula were distributed.
We lost baby Matness this month to a case of severe malaria. The baby girl developed a fever and died within 48hrs, despite care in the hospital.
Mother Care Admission. 22 year-old Martha started labor on March 28th, three days later she had not progressed and midwives noticed that the baby was experiencing distress. From an outlying maternity clinic she was transferred to the District Hospital for a c-second. Once she arrived, her baby boy was promptly delivered by c-section and they were discharged three days later. On April 8th, Martha returned to the hospital, she felt dizzy, her abdomen was swollen, she was feverish and nauseous. The clinicians opened her wound and found a severe infection, the purulent fluid was drained and she received a blood transfusion. Martha was discharged home on April 20th. She was enrolled in the Mother Care program by Joyful Motherhood nurses and they will visit her six times at home to check on her wound and to assess the progress of her healing.
Baby Care Admission. When 18-year-old Laina progressed into her third trimester of pregnancy, midwives at her clinic told her to wait for her labor to start at the hospital. As a first-time mother they knew it would be safer for her to labor close to a hospital where emergency obstetric services including an operating room would be available. Even though her belly appeared to be the size of a complete pregnancy, she was only 34 weeks when her labor started and Laina went directly to the District Hospital. She had an ultrasound in early labor and was told that she was expecting twins. The baby boys delivered without complication even though her second baby came out bottom first. Then immediately following their birth Laina began to bleed profusely. Thankfully the midwives were able to stop the bleeding and stabilize Laina. Laina and her babies were discharged the following day. At home, even with the support of her mother, the first days were very difficult and then her condition seemed to worsen rather than improve. After a week at home her family took her back to the District Hospital. Clinicians who admitted her knew that she was suffering from severe anemia and they admitted her but she did not receive a blood transfusion. Finally, thirteen days after the birth a transfusion was ordered. Blood was available but they did not have a blood transfusion set. Two days later, previously healthy 18-year-old girl died leaving orphaning her twin boys. She died because there was no blood transfusion set at a District Hospital, where she had gone following the advice of her midwives specifically so she would have access to expedient emergency obstetric care.
