IMPROVE HEALTH CARE FOR NEWBORNS AND THEIR MOTHERS

Differences in access to health resources are significant when comparing women giving birth. According to the WHO, the risk that a woman in sub-Saharan Africa will die during pregnancy or childbirth is 1 in  37 compared with women in Europe, where the risk is 1 in 6,500 (More Mothers and Children Survive Today than Ever Before, WHO). The most common reasons for maternal mortality, said the WHO, are complications that arise during and following pregnancy or childbirth, most of which can be treated with preventable care.The most frequent complications leading to a mother’s death are high blood pressure from pregnancy, severe bleeding during delivery, or infections following the birth. 

For Linga Linga, a rural village in Mozambique’s Inhambane province, the closest accessible health facility for giving birth is located in Morrumbene, a city about 30 km from the village. As a result, most women in Linga Linga gave birth at home or on their way while trying to walk to Morrumbene for help. Linga Linga’s chief asked Project Vita for our help in building a facility for women to give birth under safer circumstances. Working with community members, we built  a maternity clinic in the village next to the newly opened health clinic. In addition to delivery facilities, the maternity clinic will provide prenatal checkups and aftercare. 

This project targets Sustainable Development Goal 3.1: By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.