09/05: Mother's Day Appeal for Traditional Birth Attendants
In rural southern Sudan most babies are born on the ground in a tukul (traditional dwelling) without medical care and in unsanitary conditions.
For most deliveries, the only support available is what can be provided by a traditional birth attendant (TBA). These dedicated women rely on their past experience, not medical training, to assist with births.
Although the TBAs perform a vital service in remote villages, homes in these communities are too far from qualified medical care when complications occur during or after childbirth.
2010 has been declared as the Year of Maternal and Child Health in southern Sudan by its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit. “One in seven of our women who become pregnant will die from pregnancy-related causes,” he says. Although official birth records do not exist in remote villages, Wunlang has an average of 400 births a year, which means approximately 57 women will likely die each year from childbirth-related complications. Village Help for South Sudan aims to help reduce the number of maternal and newborn deaths through our program of basic support for TBAs.
When construction is complete in the next month or two, the Wunlang Village Health Clinic will be the place where babies are born in this village. At the core of our safe childbirth support program will be midwife kits and training for the TBAs. The kits will be assembled by St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church of Arlington.
Support from our donors and a partnership with Global Health Ministries, we hope, will cover transportation and training costs to get the midwife kits from Arlington to Wunlang and to ensure they are effectively used at every delivery.
What’s in a Midwife Kit?
- One bath towel
- One wash cloth
- One bar of Ivory soap
- One pair latex gloves
- One razor blade
- Heavy white cotton string (for tying cord)
- One 36” square muslin or sheeting
- One infant shirt
- One receiving blanket
- One infant hat
This Mother’s Day we ask for your help with this program to support mothers and newborns in southern Sudan.
For most deliveries, the only support available is what can be provided by a traditional birth attendant (TBA). These dedicated women rely on their past experience, not medical training, to assist with births.
Although the TBAs perform a vital service in remote villages, homes in these communities are too far from qualified medical care when complications occur during or after childbirth.
2010 has been declared as the Year of Maternal and Child Health in southern Sudan by its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit. “One in seven of our women who become pregnant will die from pregnancy-related causes,” he says. Although official birth records do not exist in remote villages, Wunlang has an average of 400 births a year, which means approximately 57 women will likely die each year from childbirth-related complications. Village Help for South Sudan aims to help reduce the number of maternal and newborn deaths through our program of basic support for TBAs.
When construction is complete in the next month or two, the Wunlang Village Health Clinic will be the place where babies are born in this village. At the core of our safe childbirth support program will be midwife kits and training for the TBAs. The kits will be assembled by St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church of Arlington.
Support from our donors and a partnership with Global Health Ministries, we hope, will cover transportation and training costs to get the midwife kits from Arlington to Wunlang and to ensure they are effectively used at every delivery.
What’s in a Midwife Kit?
- One bath towel
- One wash cloth
- One bar of Ivory soap
- One pair latex gloves
- One razor blade
- Heavy white cotton string (for tying cord)
- One 36” square muslin or sheeting
- One infant shirt
- One receiving blanket
- One infant hat
This Mother’s Day we ask for your help with this program to support mothers and newborns in southern Sudan.
