Ambulance service helps save mothers’ lives in Lakes state

A partnership between an Italian NGO, Doctors with Africa (CUAMM), and the ministry of Health has seen an increase in the number of deliveries in a rural health facility, saving the lives of mothers and babies.

According to a study presented in Juba this week, a bush ambulance and a handful of committed staff who provided round the clock quality healthcare at Yirol County Hospital has increased the number of women delivering at the facility by 47 per cent in the first year it was introduced.

At the same time, the study shows that in the last three years, safe deliveries at the hospital jumped by a further 100 per cent. The study’s findings were presented by its author, Dr Lavinia Groppi , an Obstetric Specialist, and the Lakes state Ministry of Health.

According to 2014 data from the ministry of Health District Health Information System (DHIS), in South Sudan, around 90 per cent of women give birth at home but some suffer from life-threatening complications such as excessive bleeding after birth, requiring emergency medical care.

South Sudan has a maternal mortality rate of 2,054 deaths per every 100,000 live births, according to the 2006 Southern Sudan Household Health Survey, the most recent available data on the topic.

“In one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality rate on the planet, getting pregnant can be a terrifying time for women. But by ensuring a simple ambulance service can work in a rural setting, we’re helping to make pregnancy and delivery a little less scary,” said Chiara Scanagatta, Country Director for Doctors with Africa CUAMM.

The poor condition of roads in Lakes State means transporting women needing medical care can be a difficult task, with potholes and flooding often making the simplest of journeys to hospital near impossible.

The collaboration between the Lakes state ministry of Health and CUAMM means that communities in Yirol West can now dial a dedicated phone number and be sent an ambulance able to traverse the roads, reaching Yirol County Hospital for proper care and treatment.

The study, ‘A hospital-centred approach to improving Emergency Medical Care in South Sudan’, was conducted by Doctors from CUAMM in collaboration with the state ministry of Health. It assessed the progress of the intervention which began in 2008. The study also proposed ways to further improve emergency obstetric care in the country.

“While there’s still a long way to go to stop mothers dying in childbirth, we’re confident that by sharing success with NGOs, donors and the ministry of Health, we can help each other to come up with strategies that we know work in the South Sudanese context,” said Dr Damianos Odeh, Director at the Health Pooled Fund.

(Editing by TCT).