Mwanza district continues to register high cases of abortion, home deliveries and teenage pregnancies despite efforts to reverse the trend.
Nurse In-Charge of Maternity Wing at Mwanza district Hospital, Juliana Chatuwa on Thursday said between July and December the district hospital registered 108 pregnancies that were delivered at home, a development she said poses a threat to safe motherhood.
Chatuwa said this during at a review meeting held at Senior Chief Kanduku’s headquarters where members of Community Action Groups (CAG) shared notes with the District Community Mobilization Team (DCMT) on how the two groups are implementing safe motherhood activities in the district.
She also disclosed that out of 1734 teenage pregnancies that were recorded during the same period, 739 delivered safely.
She further revealed that the hospital has registered 140 abortions the majority of which she said occurred to teenagers because they were not mature enough to give birth.
Chatuwa explained that teenage pregnancies are dangerous not only because of health complications but also that they lead to school drop-out which in turn leads to high illiteracy.
She also expressed worry over late start of antenatal clinic saying doing so puts a pregnant woman at risk of experiencing many complications.
Chairperson of Mwanza District Community Mobilization Team, Phillip Banda urged community leaders to continue fighting against beliefs that hinder pregnant women from delivering at a heath facility.
Banda said it is very worrisome that the district is one of those with high fertility rate in the country.