UNFPA maternal & Newborn Health
Tanzania - Midwife, Sanura, on shift at a maternity hospital in
Sanura Abdulla Salim, 50, is a midwife at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Stone Town, Zanzibar.
Sanura has been a midwife for 25 years. She has observed what can happen when women deliver several babies in succession, without a break.
Especially for those from families of limited means, the economic pressures of caring for many children can be intense. “It is stressful for a mother to find food and money to provide safety and security for the family,” Sanura explains. Multiple, back-to-back pregnancies can also be hard on women’s bodies. Sanura has seen two of her patients die as a result.
When counseling women on family planning, she explains to them that contraception does not necessarily mean an end to reproduction. It’s just a pause – until they’re really ready to have another baby.
Sanura says: “We have very busy days here in hospital and low capacity to welcome the flux, an average of three women sharing one bed. Three Nurses working for forty mothers. We need quality care, and better standards. "
Tanzania - Midwife, Sanura, on shift at a maternity hospital in
Sanura Abdulla Salim, 50, is a midwife at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Stone Town, Zanzibar.
Sanura has been a midwife for 25 years. She has observed what can happen when women deliver several babies in succession, without a break.
Especially for those from families of limited means, the economic pressures of caring for many children can be intense. “It is stressful for a mother to find food and money to provide safety and security for the family,” Sanura explains. Multiple, back-to-back pregnancies can also be hard on women’s bodies. Sanura has seen two of her patients die as a result.
When counseling women on family planning, she explains to them that contraception does not necessarily mean an end to reproduction. It’s just a pause – until they’re really ready to have another baby.
Sanura says: “We have very busy days here in hospital and low capacity to welcome the flux, an average of three women sharing one bed. Three Nurses working for forty mothers. We need quality care, and better standards. "