In the 1980s, government introduced the Maternity Waiting Homes (MWH) as a way of
reducing child and maternal mortality rate.
MWH are facilities established at health centres to accommodate expecting mothers. Besides
reducing child and maternity rate, the homes also help reduce children related illnesses that
can affect them during birth as mothers would receive medical care at source.
It is common to see heaps of firewood, pots and bed sheets at some of the maternal homes in
most rural hospitals in Matabeleland North Province. The rooms are often scattered with bags
full of baby clothes the expecting mothers bring as they near their Expected Date of Delivery
(EDD).
One beneficiary of the facility is Shamiso Bhebhe who stayed at one MWH during her first
pregnancy and delivery of her first child because of transport challenges.
“I stay very far from the health centres in Mashala village that is why I had to come and settle
at the MWH at Mwemba Clinic. There are very few cars that go to the clinic and I was afraid
that I might not get transport when labour pains starts,” said Bhebhe.
“We are safe here but the challenge is that we at times do not have enough prepared food
forcing us to fetch firewood to cook for ourselves,” she added.
The maternity waiting shelter at Mwemba clinic is a reflection of most MWH in rural
communities in Matebeleland North Province.
MWH facilities were set by the government and other partners to contribute to the reduction
of maternal mortality.
Although most rural districts in Zimbabwe have MWH, the facilities still remain
underutilised and dilapidated despite funding channelled to the Ministry of Health and Child
care.
In Lubimbi Clinic in Binga the MWH have no access to electricity yet a number of pregnant
women can camp at the shelter for a week or more as they wait for delivery day.
“We are told to bring our own buckets with water for drinking and bathing when we are
coming to the shelter, and if one overstays then it means she may have to wave water
shortages,” explained one expecting mother.
Using mothers’ shelters in Zimbabwe continues to work towards the global target of reducing
maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 pregnancies by 2030.
UNICEF is partnering Government to ensure enough funding and that all MWh are
capacitated enough to fully carry out their intended purposes.
It is also a Sustainable Development Goal on health issues to provide an opportunity for
countries to accelerate progress to improve maternal health for all women regardless of how
wealthy they are and where they are located. The maternal health objective is to ensure that
mothers and children at every stage of their pregnancy, antenatal, delivery and postnatal care
are met.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care about seven women die while giving
birth in Zimbabwe weekly and more than 200 women have died so far this year while giving
birth.
The country’s high rate of maternal mortality is partly due to the long distances women travel
to reach clinics and hospitals, thus the introduction of MWH.
Maternal mortality is unacceptably high in most developing countries, according to the World
Health Organisation. About 830 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related
complications around the world every day.
A survey by this publication revealed that pregnant women drag their feet when it comes to
admissions at MWH in fear of contracting other diseases such as COVID-19 and
Tuberculosis from the shelters.
The stigma surrounding Covid-19 and other diseases is also contributing to the
underutilisation of maternity homes, as women fear to catch other diseases while there.
Although the world has made remarkable progress in child survival in the past three decades,
and millions of children have better survival chances than in 1990—one in 26 children died
before reaching five years in 2021, compared to one in 11 in 1990.
