Kitshanga, a maternity ward with high risk of contamination

English translation by community member emma520.

In the Kitshanga Health and Information Centre of CBCA (Baptist Community of Central Africa), I deal with the overwhelming scene of three new mothers and their newborn children sharing one hospital bed post-birth. Obliged to share the bed with strangers, they also risk the spread of disease.

Mwamini, 20, has just had her first child and must share the one-metre wide bed with another women, who has had twins.

“I didn’t know these women before meeting them on this bed in the hospital. One beside me is bleeding a lot, to the point that she is bleeding onto me. I don’t have the strength to wash my hands, I try to wipe them on my clothes. I really fear the spread of disease!” she complains in a low voice, so as not to shock the bedridden woman next to her.

These pregnant women in the province of Bishusha, Kibarizo and other neighbouring villages of the city of Kitshanga, in the Territory of Masisi in North Kivu, have come to give birth in the Health and Information Centre of CBCA (Baptist Community of Central Africa) in Kitshanga.

Today, due to the free availability of primary health care, a high birth rate and poverty, several women living around Kitshanga find themselves in adversity post-childbirth.

“In a month, the Centre of Health and Information of CBCA registered more than 180 births, an average of six women per day”, explains Bernard Kakule Medical Director of the Centre of Health and Information in CBCA. A true record, but the doctor minimises the risk of disease spread at an estimate of 1% per year…

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By Feza Umande Alice