Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
THE Second Republic’s inclusive development agenda has become the cornerstone of transformation in the health sector after a series of government-led maternal health interventions in Mutare District.
This comes in the wake of revelations that Sakubva District Hospital is recording low maternal and perinatal deaths.
From losing dozens of mothers and babies each month, this maternity ward at Sakubva District Hospital is now a place of survival.
New mothers cradle healthy babies, proof that better training, modern equipment and uninterrupted power are rewriting the story of maternal health here.
“When I came here, I was in pain and my baby was delivered through c-section, he was struggling to breathe and was put on oxygen and was being monitored until he could breathe on his own and now am happy that my child is well and healthy and soon, we will be going home,” said a maternity patient.
“This is my first child, and I delivered through c-ection last night and as you can see me and the baby, we are both doing fine thanks to the hospital staff,” said another.
On average, the hospital manages between 110 and 120 deliveries every week, with about 40 to 45 in the Caesarean sections.
According to Mutare District Medical Officer, Dr David Muchirewese, the area has drastically reduced maternal and perinatal deaths.
“So, this is a district hospital which is mainly offering maternity services as well as eye health services and it has a high volume of patients that come through for deliveries. So, if you are looking at the outputs of deliveries that we do in a week, we’re looking at roughly between 110 to about 120 deliveries per week, and around 40 to 45 of those deliveries are through operations and the rest will be normal deliveries.
“We have been able to offer these services and reduce maternal deaths as well as paternal deaths in the past few years and this has been largely through interventions that have been spearheaded by government and its development partners. There are a couple of interventions that have been done at this institution, which include the installation of the solar for health. I think we’ve been beneficiaries of a 45 kilo kV solar plant, and it has recently been installed with lithium batteries. This has gone a long way in actually ensuring that there is continuity of power in the absence of electricity.
“We have also benefited from the renovations of our theatre. and installation of new equipment that includes the theatre lights, the anaesthetic machines and the theatre tables, as well as the accessories that come with the equipment.
All this has gone a long way in actually reducing the maternal deaths,” he said.
For families across Mutare District, these interventions are more than statistics, they mean mothers and newborns returning home safely.
