Fund Life Saving Maternal Care for Women in DRC

*Warning: This post contains content directly related to maternal mortality. 

Seasons Greetings to all! The team at Hope For Our Sisters Inc., in partnership with the team at the Wellness Clinic in Goma, DR Congo is pleased to bring you our latest impact report for our project to "Fund Life-Saving Maternal Care for Women in DRC". This program prevents maternal health complications like fistula and obstructed labor, poor infant outcomes, and maternal and child deaths, by giving pregnant women a place to seek prenatal care and assisted deliveries without fear of being unable to pay. The program's maintenance and efficacy would not be possible without each of you and your generosity. From July through September, 682 women had assisted deliveries at the Wellness Clinic, with 163 being cesarean deliveries. Additionally, 15 women elected to have tubal ligations. Each of these represents a woman whose life has been touched by hope for a brighter, healthier future for herself and her family. 

Our story for this impact report, unfortunately, is not the typical story we present in which a woman or girl in great need accesses an assisted delivery at the Wellness Clinic and leaves with a healthy baby. Those stories are beautiful and full of hope, but they do not encompass the range of stories coming out of countries like DR Congo and they remind us of the vital importance of continuing this work. Tragic, fatal health disparities persist in our world. For every life we get to celebrate, we cannot forget the ones we need to mourn, the ones who push us to continue to care about the outcomes for these families in places with weak health infrastructure, limited access to quality and timely health services, and cultures that do not always value or hear women. 

In words directly from the Wellness Clinic, we share the story: 

"Tragically, we lost a mother and child at our Wellness Clinic in Goma recently. This mother had five previous C-sections, which made her extremely high risk for a uterine rupture during labor, especially if trying to deliver vaginally. She had been counseled by our Wellness Clinic team that she would require a C-section and out of precaution should deliver at the district hospital, not our center. Her pastor told her God would protect her during labor and that she did not need to have a C-section. Perhaps she believed him, the district hospital was cost prohibitive, or she did not want to leave her family alone - but for whatever the reason, she decided to labor at home. During labor she began hemorrhaging and was rushed to the Wellness Clinic where a stat C-section was performed. Unfortunately, the baby did not survive. The mother needed an emergency hysterectomy. She was rushed to the emergency district hospital using our ambulance. The hospital doctor on call did not have the training to perform a hysterectomy, and so she did not survive.

Like so many mothers who die during childbirth across the world, the death of this mother and child was both preventable and predictable. She was an uneducated, under resourced woman who was failed by a broken health care system. Although this is not a happy report, we believe stories like this are important to share, as the challenge of women’s health is ongoing. Jericho Road is both motivated and committed to providing safe obstetrical care to all the women we see at our sites at home and abroad. We envision a day where no woman needs to die simply because she is a woman or a mother."

We are committed to bringing you updates on your impact in this project every four months, whether full of joy or full of heartache. As always, we welcome your feedback or suggestions to Cara, one of our Board members, at cbrooks@hopeforoursisters.org. For more regular updates on all our programs, please visit our website and sign up for our Constant Contact updates 1-2 times per month, or follow us on Facebook.

Thank you again for your incredible generosity and support of this cause, this clinic, and this precious community. 

With Hope,

Cara Brooks

Links:

• HFOS Homepage