For Jocelyn Jelsma, safe motherhood is one of those huge issues that we can’t afford to ignore. She says safe motherhood is a huge tree and there are several roots of issues that go into this tree: These are the lack of education for women surrounding childbirth, lack of trained personnel to attend a child birth situation, poor nutritional status of the mother, reproductive health issues resulting from too many pregnancies close together and limited access to clinics in case of emergencies. “There is a big PUSH to improve maternal mortality and making motherhood safer, within Rwanda. Even one of Jeanette Kagame’s big issues is to support safe motherhood through the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe motherhood.” “When we lose a mother, we lose the future of the children because a mother is important not only to her children and family but also to the community.” A mother of four children, Jelsma has obviously been through the process of giving birth. She has also worked as a trained midwife for six years, since 2004. Before she moved with her family to Rwanda in 2008—a time when there was high maternal mortality rate—she worked in shanty towns in the Philippines helping mothers to understand safe childbirth. “I feel very passionately about women who are kind of in the fringes, who don’t have the same kind of access as women who are better off.” Some of her biggest priorities are educating women and midwives. In 2009 she began teaching midwifery in Kibungo and has held several seminars to train midwives and mothers on issues surrounding their safety. Several pediatricians, midwives and nurses have been trained in a course called ALSO (Advanced Life saving in Obstetrics)—King Faisal Hospital has also adapted the course and trained health care professionals countrywide, who go back to their localities and provide better care to mothers. “Women need to know that they are in a safe place to give birth and with safe people. Women who feel this way have confidence and this leads to fewer complications.” Jelsma looks forward to the day when there will be a midwife in every community. “If I could have whatever I wished for in Rwanda; I would want to see a midwife in every community, not necessarily at the hospitals, but actually working within the community. With a midwife in every community, women will have access to someone who is compassionate, caring and someone who knows them—that is a huge blessing.” With midwifery clinics in every community, more women would feel comfortable, deliver safely and communication to referral hospitals would be made easier in times of complications. Jelsma affirms that midwives play a vital role of helping women to make informed choices that are in the best interests of a mother and baby and also in helping them acknowledge that birth is a normal process. For that reason she has invested her time in educating soon-to-be mothers in pre-natal classes for six weeks at Christian Life Assembly, Kigali. Through investing in midwifery more midwives would be able to do original research on issues that affect Rwandan mothers and hence find feasible solutions to childbirth challenges. Additionally, investment in the education of women and girls plays an important role. Studies have shown that a woman with a basic primary education, is less likely to become pregnant early and start the cycle of having too many pregnancies close together which leads to maternal deaths. “Educated girls tend to have smaller families and also look into caring about their health, so education is so huge in safe motherhood,” Jelsma said. glo.irie@gmail.com
