White Ribbon Alliance says there is need for more maternity clinics in Malawi as a way of promoting safe motherhood.
The alliance’s Executive Director Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu on Friday urged development partners as well as commercial banks to support private clinics providing maternal services.
He was speaking during a tour which White Ribbon Alliance in collaboration with Nurses and Midwives Council in Malawi conducted on Friday at Achikondi Women and Community Friendly Services Clinic located at area 23 in Lilongwe.
It was noted during the tour that lack financial support in midwife services is one of the major challenges that midwives face when they want to establish Private Clinics to save women from maternal deaths.
Speaking after the tour, Charity Salima who is the owner founder of Achikondi Women and Community Friendly Services Clinic said that there are a lot of midwives equipped with skills but failing to open clinics due to lack of financial support as well as self-confidence.
Salima added that providing services in a community is very important in regarding that only few out of large of number of women manage to seek maternal services in other private clinics due to lack of finances and long distance to public hospitals.
“Working in community comes with many challenges such as inadequate medical resources, sometimes we offer free service not willingly but due to some circumstances beyond our control. And in this era of COVID-19 one of the challenges we have observed is high usage of water but we have to have the work at heart because it is one way of giving back to the community at the same time assisting government,” she explained.
Nurses and Midwives Council Chief Executive Officer Isabella Musisi said out of 70 registered midwives, only 50 few midwives are active and engaged in maternity clinics which she described as a setback considering that there is a lot that need to be done in promoting safe motherhood.
Musisi went on to say that the advantage of involving midwife services in clinics is that most of the clients will be able to access the services.
She noted that this could contribute to the quest for universal health access where women should not travel not more than 5km to get medical services thereby reducing maternal mortality rate.
