Nigeria really needs to start impacting directly into the lifes of our mothers. it s high time we stop propagandas and doing speeches. Its time our mothers and infants feel the effect; because honestly?,...its all that matters.
All the way from sierra Leone:
The medical price list at Princess Christian maternity hospital, the main maternity hospital in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In April 2010, President Ernest Koroma launched a policy of free healthcare for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children under five to address the high maternal mortality rates. According to the latest figures by Unicef, the lifetime risk of a woman in Sierra Leone dying due to complications in childbirth is one in 21. In the UK, the number is 1 in 4,700. The policy would provide free health services for up to 460,000 women and 1 million children each year. It sought to tackle the stumbling blocks to previous attempts to introduce free healthcare - an insufficient supply of drugs and medical consumables, and provide a liveable wage for health workers, to prevent illicit charges and retain staff within the sector
Photograph: Aubrey Wade/Oxfam
The waiting room at Makeni government hospital, about 85 miles from Freetown. According to figures from the governments of Sierra Leone and the UK, before free healthcare was introduced, one in 12 children died before the age of one, the majority from preventable diseases, and only about 10% of births took place in health facilities. In the first month after free healthcare was introduced, the number of women giving birth in hospitals and clinics increased from 6,733 to 28,239. Between September 2009 and August 2010, a 32% increase in the number of children under five being treated in public health facilities was also recorded. Prenatal consultations increased by 71% over this period
Photograph: Oxfam
Nurse Halimatu Kamara administering a polio vaccine to six-month-old Zainab Nana Sillah, who is attending the clinic at Lumley government hospital, a suburb of Freetown, with her mother Abibatu Jah Saneh. The mother attended the clinic for free prenatal check-ups prior to delivering her baby
Photograph: Aubrey Wade/Oxfam
Hawa Aruma, 20, and her son at Princess Christian maternity hospital. She is a market trader, and her husband works in construction. She has another son, two-year-old Musa Ngoba. ‘When I was pregnant with Musa, I gave birth at a health centre and it cost LE80,000 [$20]. My husband paid, but his income is low. It was a struggle to find the money.’ When she became pregnant again, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia (raised blood pressure during pregnancy) and was referred to Princess Christian hospital for monitoring. ‘If I’d had to pay for hospital, it would have meant taking capital out of my market business’
Photograph: Aubrey Wade/Oxfam
Zainab Tarawalie, 20, and baby son Hassan, who is one day old, at Makeni government hospital. If Tarawalie had given birth before healthcare was free, she’d have gone to a traditional birth attendant (TBA) because she wouldn’t have been able to afford treatment. During delivery her passage was too small for Hassan to pass through, and her skin was torn. This was routinely treated by the hospital staff and she had a good birth. ‘A TBA would not have known how to treat something like this. In hospital you are well looked after with the correct medicine’
Photograph: Aubrey Wade/Oxfam
Zainab Bah, 34, is eight and a half months pregnant. She is a housewife from Freetown. Her husband is a driver, and doesn’t have a regular salary. She has come to Lumley government hospital complaining of back pain and bad digestion. Bah’s first two children were delivered by a TBA and she bled a lot during both births. She heard about free maternal healthcare on the radio and has come to hospital worried because of her history of bleeding. After a check up, she is given the all clear and a prescription for an antacid, which would have cost LE15,000 ($4)
Photograph: Oxfam
Yawa Mattia, 27, brought her son, Alhusine, to Makeni government hospital with a fever. Alhusine has been in hospital four times already in his short life. Mattia's first child died. Mattia said: ‘I’m happy that the hospital is free, not just seeing the doctor but medicine too. Paying for my son’s care would have been difficult. I am a market vendor. I believe the doctors here have saved my son’s life’
Photograph: Oxfam
Rugiattu Jalloh, 20, and her son, Soulayeman, who is 18 months old, at Lumley government hospital. Soulayeman is recovering from measles and is covered in calamine lotion to soothe the itching. Jalloh is a haberdasher, selling needles, thread and buttons from her house. On a good day she turns over LE30,000 ($7.80) but business is slow and her husband is unemployed. She has three children and has always given birth with a TBA because of the cost. ‘Soulayeman’s treatment would have cost LE10,000 ($2.60). If I’d had to pay, the money would have come from my business – then I would have less money to buy stock and my business would suffer. I’m very happy treatment is now free. It feels like I’m adding more money to my business’
Photograph: Oxfam
Jariatu Bangura, 20, and son Soulayman, who is five months old. Bangura brought Soulayman to Makeni hospital because he had a fever and irregular breathing. The doctors did some tests and are now giving him free treatment for pneumonia
Photograph: Oxfam
Adama Bangura, 27, is a market trader, and her husband doesn’t work. She has four boys and two girls. Following the birth of her last child, Bangura decided she didn’t want any more children. She joined a planned parenthood programme and had a Depo-Provera injection. However, recently she began feeling unwell and experienced bleeding. She went to Princess Christian hospital in Freetown and an eptopic pregnancy was diagnosed. This is where a pregnancy develops outside the womb, and it can be fatal due to abdominal bleeding and blood loss. Bangura underwent emergency surgery and the doctors saved her life, but she lost her child. Prior to free maternal health an emergency operation like this would have cost around LE2m ($520). In addition, Bangura would have been charged LE1,000 per day for her bed fee. These costs would have been prohibitive for someone on her income
Photograph: Aubrey Wade/Oxfam
Ashma Turay, 23, and her four-day-old daughter, Edwina. Turay, who is at college studying to be a teacher, brought Edwina to Makeni hospital to receive free vaccinations. While pregnant she attended prenatal classes three days a week and all her treatment and medicine has been free. ‘I’m happy my baby is healthy and eating and sleeping well. I don’t want to have any more children for the time being. I want to finish my studies first. My grandmother is going to look after Edwina for me’
Photograph: Aubrey Wade/Oxfam
This women don't know how it came about. But they are really enjoying the benefits of whatever it is their Government did, its putting a smile on their faces. Its working for them, its saving their's and their babies lives,...and that is all that matters....really.
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