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Enhancing Maternal Health in Tanzania

For the last year WLF has been working with the Ifakara Health Research and Development Center to improve access to maternal and neonatal health care in Tanzania. By enhancing the capacity of healthcare providers with life saving skills and equipment, the program aims to decrease maternal and newborn mortality in some of the most remote regions of the country.

In mid-January I had the opportunity to visit several remote areas of Tanzania where WLF has been upgrading infrastructure, supplying equipment and enhancing skills at local health centers. The Mabamba Health Center is a great example. Located on the western border near Lake Tanganyika and the border of Burundi, this small, isolated health center has benefited from a newly trained Assistant Medical Officer (AMO), a new anesthesiologist, and two new nurses. Along with a fully equipped operating theater, new staff houses, and improved access to water and electricity, the center now has the personnel and equipment to carry out life-saving operations, such as Cesarean sections. This is a vast improvement in an isolated area where complicated deliveries can otherwise end in death.

Our ten days in Tanzania took us to eight different health centers in beautiful yet isolated regions of the country, including the Ifakara region. A full day and half of driving took us through the national park, where we got to see some amazing wildlife, and up into a mountain rainforest. Finally, we arrived at the Magengie District Hospital, where WLF is working with the Tanzanian government to construct new and much needed infrastructure, including a new maternity ward and operating theater.

With such a high incidence of maternal and neonatal mortality in this country, the work of WLF and Ifakara will go a long way towards protecting mothers and newborns.