Negligence by midwifes in the Malawi northern district of Chitipa is affecting pregnant women’s rights of attending hospital child birth, hence going for traditional healers.
The concern was revealed during a meeting organized by White Ribbon Alliance, an organization which advocates for safe motherhood in the country.
While commending efforts by stakeholders, including government, for advocating on safe delivery, Eliza Silumbu and Gertrude Ng’ambi from Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwenewenya said that abusive language and delay by midwives to attend to pregnant women during time of giving birth are attributing the women from delivering at health facilities.
“We sometimes give birth with assistance from unskilled workers, or even from the fellow pregnant women due to negligence by midwives.’’
However, we fail to openly express our concerns for fear of being punished by the health workers,” said Ng’ambi.
However in a separate interview, while acknowledging the problem, District Senior Nursing Officer for Chitipa Wongani Nyirenda said negligence by health workers is a behavior which cannot be shortly be changed.
“I cannot backup the attitude of every health worker, some people are really negligence, However as a district hospital we are doing all we can by sensitizing our staff on professionalism,’’ said Nyirenda.
In her remarks, National Coordinator for White Ribbon Alliance for safe motherhood, Nancy Kamwendo said that the Alliance will reinforce advocacy across the district in order to arrest the situation.
