Why 5,000 babies die within hours of birth in South Sudan

By ABIGAEL SUM

South Sudan: South Sudan is one of the most dangerous nations on earth to give birth, according to a report from the charity Save the Children.

Around the world every year, one million babies die within the first 24 hours of life, and in South Sudan around 5,000 babies die within hours of birth — one of the worst rates in the world.

“Maternal mortality in South Sudan is the highest in the world with around 2,000 deaths for every 100,000 deliveries,” says Dr Bernard Olayo, Policy officer at the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group.

Dr Olayo reiterates that one way of reducing maternal mortality is by providing women with a comprehensive emergency obstetrics which includes the ability to provide a safe caesarian section thus the need for someone to put the patient to sleep safely.

South Sudan has one doctor trained as anaesthetist and five other trained anaesthetists who are nurses and clinical officers to cater for a population of over 10 million in the country.

“There may be someone who can safely perform a C-section but not someone who can safely perform anaesthesia. In order to save the lives of mothers, to decrease maternal mortality, we need to have highly skilled nurses to do anaesthesia,” notes Dr Mark Newton, Consultant Anesthesiologist at Kijabe Hospital.

It is for this reason that the Governments of Kenya and South Sudan are involved in high-level partnership to train anaesthetists at the Kijabe Hospital sponsored by Hospital Support Organisation and International Finance Corporation that is part of the World Bank Group.

“Half of the training is about anaesthesia and the rest is on leadership and professionalism so that they can be agents of change when they go back home and most of all be able to save lives,” adds Dr Newton.

Nurse anaesthetists

The programme is expected to train 45 south Sudanese nurses in three cycles for the next five years in the same high standards as Kenyan nurse anaesthetists through the Kenya Registered Nurse Anaesthesia Programme in Kijabe.

“Since we are the first group, it was difficult in the beginning with the language barrier and culture shock. We had to be trained to speak English in the first three months,” says Awar Bions, one of the beneficiaries.

Currently, there are 14 South Sudanese nurses at the Kijabe Nursing School who have left their children, husbands and family since February last year.

The group went home for the December holidays but as soon as they arrived in Juba, the conflict broke out.

Deep thought

“In the beginning of the year, it was very hard for them having left home at the height of the conflict. When they came back, most of them were stressed and depressed following the conflict. Thankfully they have now somehow recovered,” says Nurse Mary Mungai, the head tutor.

Some never met their loved ones as they had already fled and they had no means to get in touch with them. Others left their parents in camps and had to be back in Kenya for the training sacrificing a lot by leaving their country in shambles, others not knowing whether their relatives are alive or dead.

For, Tereza Amum she came back with her children to keep them safe from the conflict and rented them a house in Nairobi. However, it took more than three years to know the whereabouts of her father, brothers and the rest of the family.

“When my family fled from Malakal, I did not know their whereabouts for nearly three months. I was very reluctant to come back and questioned whether it was worth it to come back or not. This really affected my concentration in class as I would drift into deep thought every so often,” she narrates.

She recently learnt that her stepmother and four brothers lost their lives during the skirmishes.

“I have to do my part, complete the training and pray that God gives me the strength to hold on for the next few months because I know at the end of it, I will be helpful to the people of South Sudan,” she adds.

Not knowing what to expect, her only consolation just like the rest of the batch is that once the training comes to an end, they will go back home having gained skills that will help save more lives.

“Despite what has happened, what we experienced in December we put everything aside and concentrate on the course. We might find things are not in place, some have lost relatives but at the end of it we have a chance to rebuild our land,” points out Awar.

The 14 are confident that they gained skills and knowledge to administer anesthesia safely and are looking forward to put them into practice.

We are positive

“Now I am able to anaesthise a patient and take good care of them professionally. I am eager to apply what I have learnt here in South Sudan,” notes Bedjowk Ezekeil.

“We have a come a long way and we are positive that they will go back and do a good job,” says Nurse Mary Mungai, the head tutor.

Hopefully, when the programme comes to an end, some of them will be trained to be trainers and eventually relocate the programme to South Sudan in an effort to expand the much-needed human capacity in the health sector.