“How is my baby? Is my baby going to be okay? Has my baby moved?” Mary Mubita* had a barrage of questions for the nurse she found in her hospital ward when she gained consciousness, after being out for an entire day.
“Well,” the nurse responded, “your baby is fine, the doctor was here and she checked on you.’’ “Are you sure?” came the sharp response from Mary.
After some further explaining and assurances from the nurse, Mary finally gains composure, and thinks about the events that led her to the facility.
Just the previous day, she was at home enjoying her full health, doing house chores and caring for her two children like she always did. Things changed by mid-day when her four year old son developed a running stomach, which Mary dismissed as the regular diarrhoea. By evening she was also experiencing diarrhoea and unlike her son, was also vomiting violently.
Despite being very weak, she initially did not think about going to the hospital."I thought it would go away like the other times I’ve had a running stomach, I concluded that we probably ate some food which had gone bad and upset our stomachs.’’
By the time she was preparing for bed, Mary knew that her and son’s condition had become too serious to ignore. She had to go to the hospital. ‘’We had gone to the toilet countless times at that point, and were extremely weak.’’ Mary recounts.
Her husband rushed them to a local clinic where Mary’s worst fears were confirmed; she and her son had cholera. “I knew of the cholera cases in the country and it’s symptoms. When the diarrhea and vomiting started, the thoughts of cholera crossed my mind but I was hoping that it was not the case.’’ Mary says.
Her son was immediately put on an IV drip at the clinic and showed signs of recovery by morning. For Mary however, the situation had only got worse. She had to be transferred to a bigger hospital for treatment.
‘’I was barely conscious when I was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Throughout this time, my biggest worry was for my unborn child. Immediately we arrived, I passed out.’’
Mary woke up that night at the Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital Cholera Center, one of the referral hospitals fighting Zambia’s worst cholera outbreak in more than a decade. She was in the maternity ward, which had being set up to offer specialized care to pre and post-natal women with cholera.
Cynthia Mandele, one of 15 midwives in the maternity ward provided to the facility through UNFPA support as part of it’s emergency response to the cholera outbreak was on her night shift the time Mary came to.
“The women here come very weak and worried, not only for themselves but also for their pregnancies. It is not easy for anyone to fight cholera, it is worse and more complicated for pregnant women. It’s our duty to nurse them back to health and insure the safety of the unborn child,’’ Cynthia says. “The cholera outbreak has only strengthened my commitment to provide care, during my time at the Cholera center, I have helped deliver 4 babies. It gave me great joy to see the smiles of the mothers of faces even in their tough condition,’’ she adds.
UNFPA has over the years supported the Government of Zambia to help build a competent, well-trained and well-supported midwifery workforce in the country. The midwives are critical to avert maternal and newborn deaths.
Through UNFPA support, the maternity ward cared for and discharged 69 pregnant women and delivered 21 babies since the outbreak was declared in October 2023.
Mary, who is now back at home, is grateful for the care she received at the facility. “I have resumed going for my monthly antenatal visit at my community hospital and everything is fine. I’m grateful for the care and support I got from the midwives at the cholera center. They were around to cater for our every need, constantly checking on me and the baby.’’
* The name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved
