Botswana has begun work to reduce the rate of deaths at child birth after 55 mothers die in eight months during childbirth.
The country is now looking at improving maternity services by training more nurses to be midwives to handle complicated births, a healthcare official said on Thursday.
Sifelani Malima, a Family Planning Coordinator in Botswana Ministry of Health and Wellness, said this at a news briefing on efforts being taken to reduce maternal deaths in the southern African country.
Malima disclosed that nurses are now being offered better education on how to handle pregnant women with the goal of reducing maternal deaths.
“Botswana is aiming to lower maternal deaths after over 50 mothers died while giving births between January and August this year,” Malima said.
Malima said three leading causes of maternal deaths in Botswana are postpartum heamorrhage or excessive bleeding while delivering, hypertensive diseases of pregnancy, and unsafe abortion.
According to Malima, the southern African country is developing policies and guidelines with a view to showing healthcare workers the tools with which to offer the best care to pregnant women.
“We are also engaging in researches with a view to finding faults in the delivery of health care within the system,” she said.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals aim to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths for every 100, 000 live births by 2030.
