SUB-SAHARAN MOTHERHOOD

They say birth is life’s first lottery ticket. No one chooses the circumstances into which they are born.

For many mothers around the world, choice is not a factor in how they give birth either. It too is a gamble, often with long odds

Great strides have been made in reducing maternal mortality since the turn of the century. Yet still more than 90% of maternal deaths occur in low resource countries.¹

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for over two thirds of these deaths. A root cause remains the high number of women delivering at home, especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas.

This Mothering Sunday, four mothers from rural Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya, able to deliver in hospitals supported by Save the Children and GSK, reflect on how different things might have been.

SAFE HAVENS

Makota Maternity Hospital, Lomami Province

DRC

Bungoma Health Clinic Maternity Ward

Kenya

BREATHE. PUSH.

“You know if it's your day, there is nothing you can do. I have always told myself that if I survive it will be fine and if death comes it’s also OK”

Metrine, mother, Kenya

"I was in pain. In a lot of pain. But I managed it. I was not afraid."

Emily, mother, Kenya

REFLECTIONS

"At home, we give birth on the floor."

Bulungu, mother, DRC

"I come here because if I give birth at home and my case becomes serious, I will not know what to do."

Tshilumbu, mother, DRC

"If I had been at home, I wouldn’t have made it”

Metrine, mother, Kenya

“I thank the nurses, as if I had given birth at home, I would have lost my life.”

Emily, mother, Kenya

THE FORTUNATE FEW

36% of births in Sub-Saharan Africa are un-attended by a medical doctor, nurse or midwife.²

If current coverage stays the same, by 2030 approximately 16 million births will occur without the assistance of skilled health personnel.³

Motherhood is universal, healthcare still is not.

No woman should have to give birth without essential health services and no family should face financial hardship as a result.

The GSK Save the Children partnership

GSK and Save the Children joined forces to reduce preventable deaths and illness in children under the age of five, including new-borns.

Since 2013, the partnership has reached more than 6.4 million people, including over 3 million children, across 46 countries.

Across two of its signature programmes in DRC and Kenya the partnership has trained health professionals on key topics, including essential new-born care, and infant and young child feeding practises to improve health outcomes.

What our partnership has achieved in DRC and Kenya

Together, we have successfully redirected over 400 women to professional birth companions at health facilities in Kenya’s Bungoma and Busia counties. Our partnership supports each referral of a birth overseen by a skilled birth attendant with financial incentives, as well as setting up women’s groups where mothers in the community can help change longer term attitudes towards hospital births.

Thanks to this support, the number of women delivering with the help of a skilled birth attendant now stands at 63% in the region, an increase of 26% since 2017.

In DRC we’ve provided critical impact through direct treatment of over 450,000 children under five in supported health facilities and a further 40,000+ in community care sites.

More than 700,000 children under the age of five in DRC have now received preventative, curative or immunisation services to help them stay healthy through our partnership.

Find out more about the GSK And Save the Children Partnership

_{1 & 2 - World Health Organization, UNICEF, United Nations Population Fund and The World Bank, Trends in Maternal Mortality: 2000 to 2017, WHO, Geneva, 2019.}

_{3.- Joint UNICEF/WHO database 2021 of skilled health personnel, based on population based national household survey data and routine health systems.}

_{Photo credits: Sarah Waiswa / Save the Children (Kenya), Léonard Pongo / Save the Children (DRC)}