By Mubanga Mubanga
Consultant Obstetrician/Gynecologist Dr Swebby Macha has disclosed that the country might lose more than 800 women before the year ends due to maternal deaths.
In his presentation on the current landscape of obstetric care in Zambia, Dr Macha, who is also Zambia Gynecologists and Obstetrician Association (ZAGO) president said previously, the country has been losing between 10 to 15 women per week, but this year, the average has been between 15 and 20 women per week.
He said comparing the first three quarters of the past five years to this year 2023, the country has lost 576 women due to childbirth which is the worst among the six years.
“Over one firth of all maternal deaths occur in Lusaka and about one quarter of all maternal deaths happen in Lusaka therefore, it requires a lot of attention,” Dr Macha said.
He said Muchinga, Luapula and Western Province are showing a very good picture yet they are the most disadvantaged provinces.
“Otherwise the situation looks similar in the other remaining provinces, probably having the same challenges,” Dr Macha said.
He also said still births are highest in district hospitals whereas maternal deaths are highest in general hospitals.
Dr Macha said the country is also still recording maternal death at community level, signifying continued home deliveries.
“No neonatal deaths were reported from community level or they are not just reported. Maternal deaths at Health centers and communities seem to be at the same rate, which might be an issue of poor referral system,” he said.
Dr Macha said hemorrhage continues to be the biggest problem facing the country but also hypertensive disorders seem to be higher than what is in the literature.
He said abortion has dropped, much lower than what had been reported in the past.
Dr Macha said the biggest contributor to neonatal mortality is birth asphyxia and prematurity.
“Something we may deal with within our labour ward. Our testing syphilis is very low yet we can see the contribution of syphilis to this problem. We must be missing a lot of cases, making the agenda to end syphilis threatened,” he said.
Dr Macha also said congenital anomalies are a big problem adding that, “ we need to take deliberate steps to do studies so that we know the commonest and start taking steps to prevent these anomalies before and during pregnancy,” said Dr Macha.
He also noted that managing labour and delivery is a big problem, and wondered how this can be improved and monitored so that the country stops losing babies.
