Malawi chiefs drilled in safe motherhood: JB initiative ‘saving mother, giving lives’
Traditional leaders in the Malawi’s central district of Ntcheu are being encouraged to take a leading role in encouraging women to give birth in the hospitals where they will have access to proper medical attention.
The message is being delivered through series of meetings which Chief Kwataine who is also the Chairperson of the Presidential Initiative on Safe motherhood is conducting.
So far the chief in collaboration with officials from Ntcheu District Hospital has held about eleven meetings in different parts of the district.
The latest was conducted on Wednesday in the area of Inkosi Ganya which pulled together 50 traditional leaders.
Among issues taught include family planning, how to prevent problems that may occur before, during and after delivery, encouraging girls to stay in school, and safe sex practices for communities at all levels.
The training also includes teaching the traditional leaders on the roles of traditional birth attendants which includes advising women on health matters through information.
There are currently five women shelters being constructed in various parts of the country with the one in Mulanje completed.
The shelters will accommodate women that are getting closer to their expected date of delivery so that they give birth in the hospital.
Deputy Minister of Health Halima Daudi on Monday laid a foundation stone for a shelter at Mkanda in Mchinji District.
It is believed that initiative will help Malawi achieve a Millennium Development Goal on maternal health by 2015.
JB initiative
The safe motherhood initiative is a brainchild of Malawi President Joyce Banda, who rose to prominence as a relentless women’s rights advocate,
President Banda pledged to rally behind traditional leaders to sensitive their subject in the villages on safemotherhood.
“As a mother, I will not allow mothers to die as they deliver,” President Banda declared.
The President said, Maternal deaths are preventable, and access to health care is at her heart of her leadership.
Banda remains a role model to many women in Malawi for her gender fight in a male-dominated society.
