Namibia: Maternity waiting homes protect newborns and mothers (2024)

19 January 2016

Many were here because poor roads, lack of transportation and distances of up to 100 kilometres made it difficult for rural pregnant women to be sure they could reach Okongo Hospital in time to give birth.

Life was not easy.\r\n

“Conditions in the camps were really tough,” says Hambeleleni Jonas, a mother who lived in the Okongo camp prior to giving birth. “Women had no security against passers-by and pigs roamed freely throughout the camp. When it rained we couldn’t cook.”\r\n

Nevertheless, Jonas valued the opportunity to give birth to her baby in a hospital, a sentiment shared by many women in Namibia. Nearly 6 out of 7 Namibian women deliver in health facilities and 3 out of 4 receive antenatal care.

But it has always been harder for rural women to access health facilities when they need them and avoid potentially dangerous delays in seeking care. Lack of care may result in maternal and infant death, or a stillbirth in the third trimester of pregnancy. High teenage pregnancy rates, failure to seek antenatal care, HIV infections and inadequate care during labour and delivery, also contribute to the problem.

In 2015, the maternal mortality rate in Namibia was 265 deaths per 100 000 live births and the infant mortality rate was 33 deaths per 1000 live births.\r\n

Extending care, promoting ‘quality facility childbirths’

In 2013, in order to save more lives, WHO, in partnership with the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services and the European Union, launched the Programme for Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PARMaCM).

Under the programme, maternity waiting homes are being built next to health facilities in 4 regions across Namibia to replace the makeshift camps and provide rural women a safe place to stay. The homes are set up as dormitories with communal kitchens, dining halls, bathrooms and meeting areas and can house up to 80 women. Each woman either pays a small daily fee or volunteers to work to cover her cost.\r\n

“The maternity waiting homes bring women closer to the health facilities, which helps timely access to quality facility childbirths and avoid complications during pregnancy, childbirth and the days after the birth,” says Monir Islam, WHO Representative to Namibia. “They also offer a great opportunity to counsel women on various health topics, including exclusive breastfeeding, family planning, and immunizations.”\r\n

The maternity waiting homes are part of a comprehensive approach to bringing better quality care to pregnant women in Namibia. The government is also improving access to primary health services, strengthening maternal and perinatal death surveillance, and supplying more ambulances to transport patients to medical facilities. Additionally, community advocates are encouraging women to give birth in health facilities, and health workers are being trained on emergency obstetric care.

Namibia: Maternity waiting homes protect newborns and mothers (1)

In Opuwo, Namibia, tents house pregnant women waiting to give birth. /WHO

Saving more mothers and babies

As a result, lives are being saved. Averting stillbirths has been one of the programme's big successes.

According to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) the proportion of stillbirths in Namibia was 8 per 1 000 total births in 2014—one of the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa and below the global target of 12 or fewer stillbirths per 1000 total births by 2030 set in the Every Newborn Action Plan endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2014.

Of the stillbirths, the number occurring less than 12 hours before or during childbirth, has decreased 18% in less than 5 years, mainly due to improvements in quality of facility childbirth, emergency obstetric care and mothers choosing to deliver their babies in maternity facilities, according DHS.

“A strong commitment to value childbirth and the life of every baby is encouraging communities to bring woman to maternity facilities in time,” says Islam. “Because of this, Namibia is starting to see gradual improvements in maternal and infant mortality.”\r\n

Ending preventable deaths

Despite significant reductions in the number of maternal and child deaths worldwide, there has been little change in the number of stillbirths. According to new estimates by WHO, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UNICEF, more than 2.6 million stillbirths occur globally every year, half of which take place during labour and delivery. Most of these are preventable when high quality, and timely, care is provided.\r\n

Under the Every Newborn Action Plan, strategies for Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality and the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, WHO and partners are working to strengthen health systems in every country, so that every mother receives high quality care that enables her to give birth to a healthy baby after many months of pregnancy.\r\n

“It’s quite unacceptable that so many mothers and babies die for lack of essential and good quality care,” says Anthony Costello, WHO Director of the Department for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health. “WHO plans to coordinate a global initiative to cut maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths in health facilities over the next 5 years.\"

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Namibia: Maternity waiting homes protect newborns and mothers (2024)
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