Every day at Kivulini Maternity Centre we have the great joy of discharging healthy mums and their new babies. There are also times when we provide kind, compassionate care to women who have not been looked after at home, or who lose their babies.
Jane, a recent patient, was one such lady.
Jane grew up in Arusha and, when she was very young, moved to Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, to work as a housekeeper, each month earning only TZS 40,000 (GBP 13, AUD 24, USD 17).
Jane met and married a man who neglected her, refused to speak to her or provide her with any food or care. She discovered that he had treated several other women this way.
Jane soon found herself pregnant. She scraped together enough money for the bus fare to return home to Arusha. Her family brought her to Kivulini Maternity Centre when she went into premature labour. She had never received any antenatal care because she had no money for the bus fare to get to the hospital in Dar es Salaam.
Without this vital care and suffering from neglect, Jane arrived at Kivulini Maternity Centre, very weak and anemic.
At the age of 21, Jane gave birth to a baby that was very ill, with its organs on the outside of its small body. Sadly, Jane’s baby died a few minutes after being born.
Jane also had medical problems that the team at Kivulini Maternity Centre healed. Maternity Africa’s onsite social worker helped Jane in her grief, and provided some practical assistance: a care pack to help with some of her most household basic needs.
For now, Jane is staying with her family and is planning to look for another job.
Maternity Africa supports women for a short time, through the joys and heartaches of pregnancy and childbirth. With your help we can continue that work, serving more desperate women like Jane. Click on this link to support our work this Christmas.
Your donations provide things like:
- A care pack for a new mother (AUD 75 / GBP 40 / USD 50).
- Safe delivery in hospital including a Caesarean Section if required, plus all pre- and post-natal checkups (AUD 200 / GBP 100 / USD 130).
- Safe delivery for a premature baby (AUD 1,800 / GBP 1,000 / USD 1,300).
Thank you!
