In June nurses enrolled six babies (including 5 orphans and 1 baby without access to breast milk) and two women. Nurses conducted 169 visits to infants and critically ill postpartum women.
Baby Admission Story. Edess was living in a rural part of Mozambique close to the border of Malawi. She was pregnant with her fifth child and the labor started hard and strong. There was no time to make the trip to a hospital, so a traditional midwife in the village was with her during the birth. The delivery happened smoothly and quickly but the placenta did not follow and so Edess was forced to travel to the hospital.
At the end of a pregnancy the placenta receives approximately 500ml of blood every minute. Normally within minutes after a baby is born, the body will release the placenta and blood vessels feeding the placenta will shut down by a combination of the contracting uterus and clotting factors. When the placenta does not deliver within 30mins of a birth, the risk of hemorrhage increases exponentially.
Traveling from a rural community to a hospital in an emergent situation never happens quickly in Malawi or Mozambique. There is no functioning EMS system. In the majority of communities like Edess’ the only transportation vehicles are bicycles or ox carts. Roads are unpaved and rough. And, once a woman reaches the main road, she will need to wait for a passing bus or car to pick her up and take her to the hospital. Edess finally reached a rural hospital in Malawi, but tragically, she died on the same day. After her death, clinicians at the hospital referred her mother and baby to our local partner, Joyful Motherhood. If you would like to ensure that nurses visit Edess’ baby on a monthly basis in her village and provide formula and later porridge, please DONATE. Thank you.