Nkayi nurses threaten to take women who deliver outside clinic to the police

Women from Gwayibayaya and Kote villages in Gwelutshena, Nkayi North, have appealed to the Government to intervene in a situation that has forced pregnant women to risk their lives and those of their unborn babies.

To add to woes a patient, Mrs Ellen Hamandishe said that nurses have threatened to take any woman who delivers outside clinic to the police as they suspect she would have been assisted by unregistered midwives who are usually nearer them.

Pregnant women in the area are being forced by a lack of transport and infrastructure to walk more than 20-30kilometres to the nearest clinic to give birth.

"We cannot afford to hire vehicles as they are expensive and we have resorted to scotch carts for transport," said Hamandishe.

She said their situation was worsened by the fact that nurses refused to attend to any baby delivered outside health institutions.

Clinics in the area are still charging women $5 although the fee has been removed at health institutions in urban areas," said Mrs Hamandishe.

Another woman, Mrs Thokozani Mabhena, said a lot of women had given birth on their way to clinic over the past month and this was dangerous to the mother and  child.

"Over the past few weeks, many women from our community gave birth on their way to the hospitals and most of the times they were accompanied by males who could not help in delivering of the baby.

"We cannot continue like this and we also need proper water and sanitation facilities so that our communities live in a healthy environment," said Mrs Mabhena.

The councillor for the area, Councillor Dennis Sibanda,  said the community needs more clinics to help save women and children from complications that are as a result of giving birth outside health institutions.

"We have many challenges and we appeal to well wishers to come help us. Another major challenge is the shortage of water since we do not have boreholes.

"Most of our boreholes broke down and some have dried up since we received low rainfall last year," said Clr Sibanda.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has denied sanctioning the move to scrape maternity fees at major hospitals.

Former Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr Timothy Stamps said recently the Government's decision to scrap maternity fees at State-run hospitals and clinics was a blunder as the move was not sustainable.

He said the move would worsen the country's maternal mortality rate, which he said was already high.
Pregnant women from rural areas recently appealed to the Government to implement the scrapping of maternity fees at district hospitals, saying a majority of them could not afford the service.