A pregnant woman in
her third trimester is having shortness of breath, a mild headache and blurred
vision. Her sister, concerned
about her health, encourages her to visit the rural health center. The rural health center is 10K (~6
miles) away on foot after she crosses the river.
What is the
likelihood of this woman going to the health center?
The above scenario might be made up but the conditions are
not. Some of the largest barriers
to healthcare are caused by environmental factors and poor infrastructure. If our team did not have a four-wheel
drive vehicle and relatively good weather conditions, our travel to many of the
sites we visited in Eastern Province would have been impossible and/or
dangerous. We couldn’t reach one
of the sites due to a tree that was knocked down by a heavy rainstorm.
 |
| It just wasn't meant to be. |
Three of the facilities that we visited were only accessible because the riverbed was dry. As we wrapped up an interview at Mkansanga health center, the facility In-Charge said “See you in June.” Noticing the confused and concerned look on my face (because it was mid-December), he explained that once the rains begin to fall, the river will be full and the animals will migrate to that side for feeding. At his health facility, the In-Charge sees more patients with alligator bites than delivery complications. People don’t want to risk having a makeshift boat overturned by an angry animal. So, the area will be accessible when the river dries up again.
In June.
Although it is currently under construction for improvement,
the main road is a nightmare to drive on.
The Lundazi road’s conditions present serious transportation issues that
leave many women stranded at the health facilities if they can’t find timely
transportation (hint: timely transportation doesn’t exist here). As you can imagine, some women just
don’t go in for routine check-ups when they have other pressing matters at
home. At Lumezi Mission Hospital,
some of the women travel as far as 50K (~31 miles) to receive care for routine
and serious conditions. The good
news is Lumezi Mission Hospital has an improvised mothers’ shelter for women who
have to stay overnight. What
happens to pregnant mothers whose local facilities don’t have mothers’
shelters?
I know that infrastructure is difficult to change or improve
due to many political, resourceful and financial reasons. However, until road conditions improve
and people find innovative solutions to natural barriers, we won’t see much
improvement in maternal and infant mortality.
The next topic I’ll be discussing later on this week is
about the next barrier pregnant women face in receiving care: equipment,
supplies and facility infrastructure.
What happens to a pregnant woman who comes in for treatment and is told
there are no supplies to treat her condition?
