Time has passed but the fear of losing another child during childbirth still scares Kanai Fani a local mother from Anesa village in Okapa, Eastern Highland province.
Fani lost her baby during childbirth earlier this year on her way to the hospital on a makeshift stretcher bed carried by a group of people who found her unconscious on the bush track.
The lack of access to proper healthcare services is still a problem for not only Anesa Mage village but many rural places in the country that continue to pose a threat to women when it comes to childbirth.
This was expressed by Fani, a mother of five who regained conscious on a hospital bed after almost 24 hours only to learn of the distressing news of losing her baby.
“I gave birth on my way with no one to assist me but my young daughter. There was no body to help me and take care of my younger child so I can help myself. I had difficulty breathing and lost my balance and fell when I tried to stand up. That was the last thing I can recall. I do not know how the other people came and helped me and took me to the hospital.”
Fani, who fell unconscious after losing blood said she only woke up at the Onamuga Health Centre to find out that she had lost her baby.
She shared her story as the experience of many women, and mothers in the Asena and Mage community, who had lost either their lives or babies, sometimes both, while trying to reach health services.
Moreover, the poor road condition makes it even tougher for the vehicles to reach the village, a destination that costs K30 on a three hour PMV drive to Goroka town.
