ZAF Hospital in Lusaka turns away a woman in labour
...she ends up giving birth at home
By ANNIE ZULU
A WOMAN in labour, was on Tuesday last week allegedly turned away from Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Mount Euginia Hospital in Lusaka West for failing to provide some necessities used in delivering the baby.
Fridah Banda 27, of Chikondano Township who was accompanied by her husband to the hospital at around 21:00hrs on November 7, 2017 was allegedly ordered to leave by the medical personnel to buy cotton wool and disinfectant (Jik) before she could be assisted to give birth. However, the couple did not have money at that moment to buy the requirements that the hospital was demanding for.
Heavily pregnant and restless with pain, Fridah, together with her husband pleaded with the Doctor on duty to help but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
But when contacted, ZAF head of public relations unit Lt.Col Mutale Kasoma said investgations will immediately be instituted to establish what transpired.
“I am not aware about that incident i need to investigate the issue before giving any comment,” Col Kasoma said.
And narrating the ordeal, Fridah lamented that two nurses who were on duty made fun of her, saying she looked dirty, therefore they could not help her, unless she produced the requirements.
“It was on Tuesday night between 20:00 and 21:00hrs when I started feeling some stomach pains and my husband decided to take me to ZAF Mount Euginia Hospital, which is the nearest hospital here,
“My husband did not have money to book a cab, so we had to walk, but along the way a Good Samaritan offered us a lift and took us to the hospital,
“When we got there, the doctor asked if I had all the requirements and I told him I had everything, except for cotton wool and the disinfectant, but he started shouting at me. My husband pleaded with him to help me, while he looks for money to buy the requirements, but he refused,” said Fridah
She said the nurses even mocked her that I looked poor and dirty, so they wouldn’t want to touch my dirt.
“They told us to leave the hospital premises, as they would not attend to me,” Fridah said.
Unable to bear the discomfort and pain, Fridah told her husband to take her back home and seek assistance from a traditional birth attendant in the neighbourhood.
She narrated that a woman identified as Banakulu Ngosa was called to help her and at exactly 03:25, the following day, she gave birth to a baby girl.
“It was my first time to give birth in the house and I was so scared. Banakulu Ngosa helped me deliver, I don’t know what could have happened to me and my baby if it wasn’t for her. I am so grateful,” she said.
Although Banakulu Ngosa had helped a lot women in the area to give birth, she stressed the importance for pregnant women to be taken to a health facility when they are in labour.
She says women are much safer giving birth at a health facility with the help of trained medical personnel than at home by untrained person.
“A hospital is the only safe place for women to give birth, I have helped a lot of women deliver but I get scared because it’s a matter of life and death and anything can happen. I usually do it for women who are helpless and I don’t even charge them anything,” Banakulu Ngosa said.
For almost a week after giving birth, Fridah has not been to the hospital and is worried about her baby. She stressed that hospitals usually demand for a certain amount of money if one delivers from home and she does not have any money to pay for her baby to be attended to.
“Ever since I gave birth last week, I have not been to the hospital, because they charge about K70, if you give birth from home and I don’t have any money on me. I am very worried, I don’t youth sexuality can result in the denial of healthcare services, while others are coerced into using them,” she said.
However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel against discrimination and stigma for women and HIV.
Despite the challenges there is new hope for young women in Zambia as efforts are being made by Government and various stakeholders to reduce HIV infection rate among young women.
In 2015, Government enacted the Gender Equality and Equity Bill which has become law aimed at changing the unequal structure of society. The law is intended to stop women being disproportionately affected by HIV.
The Ministry of Gender has taken the lead in ensuring that the law is fully implemented and has come up with various programmes aimed promoting girl-child education and gender equality and women empowerment. “If women are given equal space in society, educated and empowered, their chances of acquiring HIV will automatically reduce because they will be able to protect themselves against infection,
“Government has put in place various programmes to protect women’s rights which include their reproductive health,” says Gender Minister Victoria Kalima. And Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya says Government is aware of the inadequate sexual reproductive health care services in Zambia.
In his recent ministerial statement to Parliament on HIV/ AIDS, Dr Chilufya said Government know if my baby is ok,” she said.
Another woman, Joyce Ngoma who was also tuPrnOed70aw07ay from the same hospital by medical personnel, when she was pregnant last month, has called on relevant authorities to regularly inspect the hospital and monitor the staff.
She lamented that the health personnel at the hospital have no remorse or regard for patients, especially pregnant women from shanty compounds who go there.
“The workers at the hospital have a very bad attitude for people who come from shanty compounds, they look down on us. Last month I was also turned away because I didn’t buy Jik and a plastic to use,” she said.
Unfortunately this scenario is a big remainder of what is obtaining in many health institutions throughout Zambia.
Such careless attitude of health workers towards pregnant women is one of the major contributing factors of the high maternal and infant mortality rate in Zambia.
Sadly, it is not only expectant mothers who experience this ill treatment at health facilities, as the predicament is faced daily by many patients seeking medical services. had partnered with other stakeholders in ensuring women’s access to SRH and treatment services.
The response to reducing HIV infections among young women is all-embracing and non-governmental organisations have not been left out.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Coalition of Zambian Women Living with HIV/ AIDS (COZWHA) and Network of the Zambian People living with HIV/AIDS (NZP+) have also teamed up to strengthen HIV health services delivery, education and awareness programmes for women and girls.
AHF national medical director Brigadier General Lawson Simapuka fears that without early interventions to address the challenge of high infection rate among young women, a new window for another HIV epidemic might open.
Gen. Simapuka said his organisation together with the other two organisations were offering financial and other forms of support for various progressive interventions such as information dissemination, HIV testing, sensitization, condom distribution and drama, among others.
“We are targeting to reach adolescent girls aged between 10 and 19, young women between 19 and 24 and other women that are both living with HIV and those that test negative by sensitizing them on HIV testing, treatment and prevention,” he said.
Even though such efforts are being made, HIV unfortunately still remains an epidemic of women and more need to be done to address the situation.