Dying in Childbirth Still a National Trend in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe struggles to contain maternity deaths. Here in this southern African nation, the number of women dying in childbirth continues to rise. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/ IPSBy Jeffrey MoyoHARARE, Jan 30 2015 (IPS)For 47-year-old Albert Mangwendere from Mutoko, a district 143 kilometres east of Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, transporting his three pregnant wives using a wheelbarrow to a local clinic has become routine, with his wives delivering babies one after the other.But these routines have not always been a source of joy for Mangwendere.“Over the past twenty years, I have been ferrying my pregnant wives to a local clinic using a wheelbarrow because I have no (full size) scotch cart and we have lost 12 babies in total while traveling to the clinic,” Mangwendere told IPS.Mangwendere’s case typifies the deepening maternity crisis in this Southern African nation.An estimated 3,000 women die every year in Zimbabwe during childbirth and at least 1.23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually due to maternal complications – United Nations issue paper on 'Maternal Mortality in Zimbabwe', 2013An estimated 3,000 women die every year in Zimbabwe during childbirth and at least 1.23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually due to maternal complications, according to Maternal Mortality in Zimbabwe, a United Nations issue paper released in 2013.In fact, the United Nations found that maternal mortality worsened by 28 percent between 1990 and 2010. The...
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