ONE out of three women in Umguza District is choosing to give birth at home, as medical institutions are far and inaccessible, an official has revealed.
REPORT BY LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI.
Matabeleland North provincial medical director Nyasha Masuka said Umguza had one of the highest rates of such incidents in the province.
“What is happening in Umguza is difficult because of geographical locations,” he explained.
“The hospitals are far from people and most people who are close to good road networks tend to go to Bulawayo.”
Masuka said the other challenge in Umguza was that most of the health facilities belong to the Rural District Council and some people cannot afford hospital access fees.
“As medical practitioners, we are calling for the removal of access fees in such hospitals, especially in terms of maternity,” he said. “We are working out a way of encouraging the owners of the facilities to remove access fees.”
Most women are encouraged to use proper health facilities when they are giving birth, because delivering at home does not prevent newly born babies from being attacked by various diseases that people at home cannot identify with the naked eye.
