Another home birth has claimed life of a young woman in
Aweil South, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
Aluel Angui Anyang gave birth at her home in Malek Alel area
on Monday, a medical officer at Malek Alel health center said.
Unfortunately, Desmond Dut said the 19-year-old mother started
experiencing serious bleeding upon arrival at the clinic.
He said she succumbed to the bleeding on Tuesday when the clinic
was preparing to transfer her to Aweil Civil Hospital for specialized medical attention.
“Our people do not send expectant mothers to the hospital
for checkups. They just let them stay and when the situation is out of hand,
that is when they say, ‘Let us go to the hospital’,” Dut told Akol Yam FM.
“This is what has been causing such deaths during
childbirth.”
This brings the number of women who died during childbirth
to three in the county in January 2024.
Last week, a 25-year-old woman reportedly bled to death at a
health facility in Aweil South County after she delivered at home. Earlier, a mother
died at Tiraliet village under similar circumstances.
Most South Sudanese lack access to essential health
services, safe water, and sanitation.
One in every ten children dies before they turn five, and
the rate that new mothers pass away from pregnancy complications is one of the
highest in the world: roughly 1,223 per 100,000 live births, according to the
World Bank.
African countries with extremely high maternal mortality
rates are South Sudan with 1223 deaths, followed by Chad with 1063 deaths and
Nigeria with 1047 deaths per 100 000 live births.