By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Muchinga Constituency Member of Parliament Emmanuel Banda says that the maternal mortality rate in Serenje is worrying.
Mr Banda said this when he held talks with Serenje District Hospital Management Staff to establish why the district was recording high number of Maternal Deaths.
Mr Banda said that it was discovered that long distances to access health facilities in some areas, women not seeking maternity services and failure to deliver in hospitals were some of the contributing factors.
He said the combination of these challenges results in excessive bleeding and other complications in some cases.
Mr Banda said that the other major contributing factor presented was not having enough transport to carry out referrals in the district.
He said currently, the district has got only one running ambulance to service the population of about 158,000 and two utility vehicles which are also in bad state.
“Another challenge was that both mortuaries from the two facilities are not operating well.
“Iam assuring the District Health Management Team, through the Acting District Health Director Madam Domiya Phiri that the New Dawn Government will address the above challenges as soon as possible,” he said.
The Minister has encouraged mothers to start attending antenatal services the moment they discover that they are pregnant and deliver from health facilities.
