Martin Nkematabong
16 October 2008
Last week, a nurse was attacked and stripped naked at Bandja Street by an embittered individual whose wife reportedly died in the course of child birth in a local health centre in Bamenda, three months ago.
A nearby crowd of chessmen and "odontol" drinkers failed to calm the fumy widower who pounced on the young lady nurse, disintegrating the fibres of her cream white gown. Mr Stephen (other names withheld) claimed that his wife died out of forced labour induced by the community relay nurse who could not manage the pains and excess bleeding that followed. He has promised to naked every worker who watched his wife died.
Mr Stephen is just one among hundreds who live the nightmare of childbirth in both urban and rural areas of the North West Province. Pregnant women, especially the poor and rural folks, ultimately face a unique dilemma in delivery rooms: to live or to die. It's here that the hearts of men throb on their knees; it's here that hot tears still run down the cheeks of mature men in public.
Multiple reasons have been advanced for the uncertainty that tint the maternity pavilions in the province. The hurdle of low staff strength in both rural and urban areas has remained insurmountable. Most rural health centres are either abandoned in the hands of few ward nurses or are entirely run by workers who lack basic medical knowledge. In urban centres, the nurse-patient relationship remains appalling. In the Bamenda General Hospital, for instance, the ratio is estimated at 1: 34 in the maternity wards.
The high incidence of maternal death in the province has also been closely linked to caregivers' poor working conditions. When Cameroon Tribune talked to health workers in some hospitals in Mezam Division and its environs, workers of various categories complained of low salaries, lack of career advancement, absence of incentives and basic risk allowances. "I have worked on the same category for over 20 years," said Mrs Tin Helen, head of the maternity ward at the Bamenda provincial hospital. "I have never had an opportunity for a refresher course. I mingle with patients infected by tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS every day without any risk allowance.
Apart from that, the acute lack of basic material and equipment at the gynaecological units also contributes. A caregiver in one of the local district hospitals noted that "we merely save many lives by improvising." He said basic necessities such as gloves, plasters, drip stands and disinfectants are largely unavailable. "We compel pregnant women under labour to bring these items,' he said. "And, those who fail to provide them risk being abandoned to themselves.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Cameroon Tribune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
