Mothers rewarded for attending ante-natal care

RWAMAGANA - A non governmental organisation, Intra-health Twubakane on Thursday rewarded 27 mothers in Rwamagana District for their positive response towards standard antenatal care. The rewards which included clothes and T-shirts for infants were handed over by an official from Intra-health Twubakane Albertine Uwamahoro, at Munyaga Health Centre. The official said the mothers who were rewarded managed to go for medical check ups at least four times before delivery. “A pregnant mother is supposed to attend medical check up at least four times before giving birth. This reduces maternal and child mortality rates,” said Uwamahoro. “We are rewarding these women for fulfilling what a pregnant mother is supposed to go through until delivery.” The over all aim of the rewards was to motivate expectant mothers to respect periodical medical check ups. Midwives at the health centres said that many mothers still have not embraced the use of midwives under the supervision traditional birth attendants. Statistics also indicate that the overall number of mothers observing the recommended four time medical check up is still very low. “The average percentage of pregnant mothers seeking timely routine antenatal care is still far below the set averages. From 2007 to 2009, we registered less than 25 percent of those who attended the clinics in time,” Dafroza Seniyonsaba, the Director of Munyaga Health Centre said. Ends