Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Nearly 300 babies and 54 women died in Zimbabwe due to complications during childbirth in January 2025 alone, according to Deputy Minister of Health and Childcare, Sleiman Kwidini, who revealed the figures in Parliament recently.
Harare recorded the highest number of neonatal deaths, with 111 cases, along with 19 maternal deaths. Said Kwidini (via NewZimbabwe.com):
The maternal deaths as of January 2025 to date is currently set as 54. Moving back to 2024, I will start by Harare Province where we have maternal deaths of 19 and neonatal deaths of 111.
The leading cause of death was hypertensive disorders and its complications, including renal failure.
The other was post-partum hemorrhage post having an abortion, post-normal delivery and also post-caesarian section.
Some had underlying HIV and Diabetic Mellitus conditions. Other causes were dilated cardiomyopathy.
Kwidini further stated that neonatal deaths were primarily caused by respiratory complications. He said:
On neonatal deaths of 299, the leading cause was respiratory distress as a complication. Secondary was birth asplenium due to challenges with intercultural chair.
The deputy minister acknowledged that rural communities are disproportionately affected by the lack of adequate health services. He said:
We are indeed having challenges in rural areas, especially when one changes skills and also the road networks where our people should access medical attention quickly, especially pregnant women.
However, what we have done as the ministry now is, we are retraining because we know our trained midwives have migrated to what is called greener pastures, which gives us a burden as a ministry.
Kwidini said the government has reintroduced a large-scale retraining program for midwives to better serve communities in rural areas. He added:
We are also upgrading what we call primary care nurses in rural areas to be able to be midwives so that they can also render services like the ones which were being given by those departed midwives.
We have gone far further to deploy what we call mobile small scanning machines so that our pregnant women can undergo scanning, which is recommended at the initial stage when the pregnant woman is going to book for antenatal care so that we reduce those complications, especially on maternal and neonatal deaths.
While Zimbabwe, like many other developing countries, struggles to raise sufficient funds to equip medical facilities and adequately remunerate health staff, critics argue that the government spends its limited resources on extravagance, such as purchasing luxury vehicles for bureaucrats and offering other hefty perks.
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