What’s it like to lose your baby? What’s it like to lose a loved one during childbirth? What’s it like to lose your child? What’s it like to lose your mom when you gain a sibling? What’s it like to lose your wife and baby on the same day? How do you get past that heartbreak, that grief?
Even in the States, with modern medical equipment, electricity, and trained doctors, people have to deal with losing the mom or baby. The USA’s infant mortality rate (infant deaths/1000 live births) is 6.2. Here, in Cameroon, it is 63.3. Now, imagine giving birth at a Health Center with no electricity, no running water, and no medical doctor.
The Health Center in village keeps track of how many births happen in the Health Center and which of the babies survive, or not. With numbers from the year 2008 until now, I calculated the (projected) village infant mortality rate is about 73.9. (There were 38 deaths out of the 514 births).
Because I believe in the power of story, I want to share some stories to make these numbers come to life.
Take one example from a small town in the States:
Pregnant, nineteen years old, one young girl starts having intense labor pains at about 25 weeks into the pregnancy. She has access to health care, a modern hospital, and trained physicians. She comes from a decent family who is willing to help her get the medical care she needs from the local hospital. In and out of the doctor’s office for weeks, nothing helped. Finally, on April 25, 2006, she is in such intense pain, she can’t walk, but her mom takes her to the emergency room and is immediately admitted and being tended to by medical doctors and nurses. Despite all the prenatal checkups, advanced ultra sound exams, and access to western medicine, she gives birth to a little boy at 25 weeks. He was perfect, but miniature, and not fully developed. Despite him moving momentarily in her arms, and her pleads for the doctors to save him, he was gone moments after being born. And, keep in mind this is in a developed country, with running water, electricity, modern medicine, and trained medical doctors.
Now, shift to a small village in Cameroon:
Pregnant, nineteen year old girl, who carries the baby to term goes to the local health center to give birth. Complications arise but there are limited options in a village health center with no electricity, no running water, no trained medical doctors, and outdated facilities. The city hospital is hours away on a bad dirt road. The nurses and staff members do what they can and know how to do. Despite the efforts, she, and the baby, don’t make it out of the health center and in one day the husband and family have lost their beloved wife, daughter, sister and new baby. It’s hard not to think that if she had access to better facilities, technology, or medical doctors, she may have survived. Maybe the baby could have survived with better medical care or if mom had given birth in the city. So many maybe’s and so many what if’s. And, on the other side of that argument, what if the young girl from the States had been in a small village, giving birth at the health center? Maybe she wouldn’t have survived.
Of course, there a so many factors that played into both of these stories that haven’t been mentioned. But, every woman and baby deserves access to adequate health care and trained medical staff to do everything they can to ensure a healthy delivery for both baby and mom. Even in the States, where we typically do have access to medical doctors and modern medicine, there are loses people have to struggle through. In Cameroon, and especially in small villages, there is not the same access to health care and people have to suffer through these loses more often than we can even imagine.
And, with outdated, unsanitary, and unpleasant facilities at the health center, many women choose to give birth at home, without the assistance of trained health care professionals. When complications arise in an at-home birth, there is no health worker to help mom or baby get through those situations.
My village and I are trying to get enough money to finish and equip the building designated as the new maternity ward in village. We will be able to purchase new materials and provide women with more privacy, more pleasant and adequate facilities. We will encourage women in village to go to the health center for prenatal consultations, to give birth at the new maternity ward, and finally give women and babies a portion of the care they deserve.
Please, take a moment to consider helping us raise the money to allow our village to update their facilities and hopefully decrease the number of at-home births and help decrease the number of women and babies who do not make it through delivery.
You can go to gofundme.com/villagematernity to pledge any amount you are able to donate. If we reach our goal within 30 days, we will be able to go through with the project and get this currently empty maternity ward up and running.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and considering donating however much you can for this project.
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