Improve midwifery services to save lives
Midwives are very important people in any society. In South Sudan, we need them to save many lives; of new born babies, their mothers and even the fathers. Imagine how ruined the family would be if they lost their fully developed child before it is given chance to live after it has been delivered – after it successfully matured in the womb but meets its death at the hands of a poorly handled birth. Midwives are very significant; as is their role. They are professional and trained to assist in childbirth but they are found in hospitals or medical health centres so this leaves the women who are faced with abject poverty, long distance, conflicts and other obstacles which might hinder them from accessing medical assistance when in labour, which makes them and their children susceptible to complication or death. One concerned; women representative said, “it really hurts me that the road is too bad. If you are supposed to take this woman maybe because of birth complication, on the way she should have gotten tired already or might give birth on the way. The road is in bad condition and blocked by water especially when it rains” this is one thing that the ministry of health and of roads should highly consider. For the future of healthy and well-developed children, midwives should be fully supported socially, financially, recognize and celebrate them so that they are motivated to work to their best ability. Birth complications and infant mortality rates of the country are still as high as 59.737 despite a slight decrease from 60.894 in 2021 deaths per 1,000 live births but they can surely be mitigated. With only 8 midwives and the highest maternal death rate globally at the time of her independence, there has been an improvement but still more work needs to be done. Reports have indicated that many women do not receive professional assistance when giving birth in South Sudan, with only a quarter of the women population in Juba going to hospital during the time of labour. Poverty is the biggest cause of the low turn up of pregnant mothers in hospitals, in previous years; the government together with international and national partners has provided health services to train midwives so that maternal mortality and infant mortality deaths are prevented in the country.