{"id":96922,"date":"2023-01-12T16:40:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/southern-africa\/angola\/motorcycle-ambulance-helps-pregnant-women-in-drought-stricken-community-to-access-life-saving-maternal-health-care\/"},"modified":"2023-01-12T16:40:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:40:27","slug":"motorcycle-ambulance-helps-pregnant-women-in-drought-stricken-community-to-access-life-saving-maternal-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/southern-africa\/angola\/motorcycle-ambulance-helps-pregnant-women-in-drought-stricken-community-to-access-life-saving-maternal-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorcycle ambulance helps pregnant women in drought-stricken community to access life-saving maternal health care"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every month, midwives at Katilu sub-county hospital deliver more than\u00a060 babies to women living in Turkana South sub-county,\u00a0saving the\u00a0lives of mothers experiencing complications, and those of their newborns.\u00a0\u201cWe pride ourselves in having recorded zero maternal deaths in our facility over the last year,\u201d says medical superintendent Mathew Bundotich.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The ongoing drought is, however, threatening to undo the gains made in the reduction of preventable maternal deaths, as families migrate further from the health facility in search of water and pasture for their animals. \u201cWith the increase in distance to the health facility, the number of ante-natal visits has dwindled. We have to follow the women into the community in order to reach them with the services,\u201d says Mr. Bundotich.<\/p>\n

In the month of November 2022, UNFPA through the International Rescue Committee (IRC) donated a motorcycle ambulance to Katilu sub-county hospital to be used in providing emergency transport to the health facility, and for inter-facility referral of pregnant women. The ambulance is operated by community health volunteer Mark Epeyon, who has mastered the art of navigating both on and off-road terrain to reach mothers in urgent need of assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardship brought on by the drought has left many women weak and malnourished, and I cannot imagine them giving birth without the support of a skilled health professional,\u201d says Epeyon. \u201cWhen my wife got pregnant the first time, she gave birth at home and our child developed health complications that have affected him into adulthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to reach as many women as possible, Mr. Epeyon has been spreading the word about the motorcycle ambulance at community health outreach events organized by IRC in response to the drought, and by making door-to-door visits in the nearby villages. Having worked in the community for more than 11 years, he knows the ins and outs of the terrain and is able to quickly locate a mother in need.<\/p>\n

In the one month that the ambulance has been in operation, Epeyon has safely transported five women with obstetric emergencies to the hospital, likely saving their lives and those of their newborns.<\/p>\n

The ambulance\u2019s ability to safely and comfortably transport one patient\u00a0and an outreach medical worker, as well as emergency\u00a0supplies for on-site treatment, has significantly reduced\u00a0the time required to deliver essential and urgent medical\u00a0assistance to local communities. \u201cThe ambulance stretcher can also be adjusted to a semi-fowler\u2019s position for the safe transfer of expectant mothers, and\u00a0patients with breathing problems,\u201d says IRC Reproductive Health Programme Manager Isaac Kiroso.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, women have given birth on the roadside while trekking to hospital because they live too far from a health facility,\u201d says Mr. Epeyon. \u201cWith the motorcycle ambulance, even if a woman delivers on the way, she is able to do so in a dignified manner, on a comfortable stretcher and with the help of a healthcare worker and myself,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UNFPA – East and Southern Africa.<\/i><\/p>\n

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South Africa Today Africa \u2013 Southern Africa Angola<\/a> News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Download logo Every month, midwives at Katilu sub-county hospital deliver more than\u00a060 babies to women living in Turkana South sub-county,\u00a0saving the\u00a0lives of mothers experiencing complications, and those of their newborns.\u00a0\u201cWe pride ourselves in having recorded zero maternal deaths in our facility over the last year,\u201d says medical superintendent Mathew Bundotich. The ongoing drought is, however, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":96923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/uploads\/socialshare.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4262],"tags":[6450,258,256,21744,4263,5732,7963,27512,5731,8099,19905,10165,12134,257,6757,254,6524],"class_list":["post-96922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-angola","tag-access","tag-africa","tag-africa-news","tag-ambulance","tag-angola-news","tag-care","tag-community","tag-droughtstricken","tag-health","tag-helps","tag-lifesaving","tag-maternal","tag-motorcycle","tag-news","tag-pregnant","tag-south-africa-today","tag-women"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/uploads\/socialshare.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}