Thank you Simeon Nariutu and son Modilaga Nariutu from Kwabula Village for taking our last lot of birthing kits by boat from Alotau to Kiriwina. Your help is very much appreciated.
The CFK team are seen here organising our next training trip in August 2018 for our most experienced 25 VBA’s from Kiriwina. Midwives Shea and Jacqui will be supported by Vanessa and myself. All have generously volunteered their time and skills again to come on this next training trip to support our fabulous Village Birth Attendants. Our in country manager is traveling to Alotau this week to continue to sort out the logistics. He has also organised the boat trip across to Kiriwina to deliver the last lot of Birthing Kits we sent to Port Morseby. Although the closed airport on Kiriwina has increased the difficulties of our mission it is full steam ahead. This closure has also increased the costs involved. Please help us and donate: CLICK HERE TO DONATE.
To all our wonderful donors, packers (Diana and Kylie Adams) and courier services (Toks and Lepani)…thank you for keeping this initiative flowing as continuously as the births 🙂
April 18, 2018 CHILDFUND AUSTRALIA
https://www.childfund.org.au
Pregnancy and childbirth can be a beautiful time in a woman’s life, but it can also be one of the most challenging.
At worst, it’s heartbreaking.
Every day 830 women and 7,000 newborns around the world die from preventable life-threatening conditions and complications.
Almost all these deaths have occurred in developing countries, where healthcare services are dire or conflict is rife.
Many of these deaths occur in rural and remote regions, and are preventable with better access to clean and safe equipment, medication, and well-trained health workers who can provide immediate support and advice, or referrals, to women when needed.
World Health Organisation data shows the most common complications – accounting for 75% of maternal deaths – include: severe bleeding (usually after childbirth); infections (usually after childbirth); high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia); complications during delivery; unsafe abortions; and diseases such as malaria and AIDS.
The biggest killers of newborns include prematurity, complications during birth, or infections such as pneumonia and sepsis.
So where are the most dangerous places for a woman to be pregnant and give birth?
Pakistan
This south Asian nation, sandwiched between war-torn Afghanistan and bustling India, has long been marred by political, social and economic challenges, including gender inequality, terrorism and conflict, poverty, and illiteracy.
Women comprise more than half of the nation’s population, but have far fewer rights and opportunities than their brothers, sons, fathers and husbands.
The World Bank data shows about 60% of households are in regional or rural areas, where there is no or little access to healthcare services, support and advice, making pregnant women and their newborns one of the most vulnerable sectors of society.
According to UNICEF, Pakistan’s newborn mortality rate is the worst in the world, at 45.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. In comparison, the rate in Australia is 2.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Neonatal sepsis and infections, pre-term birth complications, birth asphyxia and birth trauma make up the top 10 causes of deaths in the country, according to the World Health Organisation.
Sierra Leone
This minerals-rich nation, well known for its diamonds trade, on the African west coast is one of the most dangerous places for a woman to be pregnant.
According to the most recent UN data, Sierra Leone has the world’s highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, at 1,360 deaths per 100, 000 babies born. This is equivalent to eight maternal deaths a day.
It’s estimated up to 6% of women in Sierra Leone will die as a result of maternal causes, such as severe bleeding, sepsis and hypertension, during their reproductive life.
Like Pakistan, war and conflict has long marred development in Sierra Leone. Poverty is widespread and it’s estimated about 60% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Between 2014 and 2016 the nation – along with its neighbours, Liberia and Guinea – also faced the worst Ebola outbreak in history. The epidemic killed more than 11,000 people.
A long history of poverty, disease and conflict has taken a toll on Sierra Leone’s health and prosperity.
Across the country quality healthcare services and workers are few and far between, impacting the most vulnerable members of society – pregnant women and their babies.
Papua New Guinea
This Pacific nation, Australia’s closest neighbour, is a dangerous place for pregnant women and their newborns, not only because of widespread poverty but also because of overwhelming incidents of domestic violence.
According to Human Rights Watch, Papua New Guinea is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or girl, with an estimated 70% of women experiencing rape or assault in their lifetime.
It starts before birth. One study of 200 women who had been pregnant at least once found 86% of participants had been beaten in their last pregnancy.
On top of widespread domestic violence, Papua New Guinea has severe shortages of healthcare clinics, hospitals, doctors, nurses and midwives, particularly in rural areas where about 85% of the population live.
Accurate statistics on Papua New Guinea’s maternal mortality rate are difficult to source because of a lack of reporting throughout the country.
According to locally and internationally produced data and research, the maternal mortality rate is in the hundreds per 100,000 live births.
In Australia, the rate is 6.8 deaths per 100,000 women giving birth.
In some parts of the country, less than one in five women in 2016 gave birth in a facility with a skilled birth attendant present.
The newspaper article goes on to say that “We have 733 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, which is like 1,500 to 2,000 women dying every year.”
The team at CFK are continuing to work towards traveling to Kiriwina for the third week of June this year despite the heightened level of difficulty, the airport is still closed and due to landholder disputes there seems to be no sign of it being reopened any time soon. The VBA’s have told us that they feel isolated and desperate and we will try and make sure we fulfill the commitments we have made to them, even if we end up being a bit delayed. There are now additional costs involved in traveling to the Island. All donations welcome. Please Donate CLICK HERE or visit our DONATION SHOP.
Thank you to our wonderful! donors and Sydney volunteer packers Diana and Kylie Adams. Your support is essential for our work to continue. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The Caring for Kiriwina Team.
Although the airport is still closed atm we are being told that it will open in July. We are continuing to plan the 2018 VBA training trip whilst still managing to ship uniforms and Birthing Kits to Losuia from Alotau . We will keep you posted re: VBA training trip timing. Go all members of team CFK.
The Stamp Committee donation has gone into the creation of birthing kits and to pay for the increased delivery costs caused by the airport closure. We have also used this money to top-up the VBA CFK emergency mobile phones and to help us save towards our next VBA training trip this year. Despite the Airport still being closed we are still managing to provide for our wonderful Kiriwinan VBA’s.
We are determined to provide the next training workshop in the series in 2018. Logistically, due to transport issues, we are still determining the best timing for such a trip.
The wonderful! Vanessa and Shea at our latest Caring for Kiriwina coordination meeting.
Our heart felt thanks goes to recent Pacific Aria cruise passengers Catherine Gardiner and her husband who volunteered to deliver bags of Birthing Kits to our head VBA on Kiriwina, see below Catherine’s lovely delivery confirmation message:
“We successfully delivered the birthing kits to Ruth. She was a lovely lady. We met her daughters and grand daughter. Ruth also gave me a hand made bag with my name woven into it. It is such a basic island as was Kitava Island. We saw some of your birthing kits on Kitava when we visited so they definitely make it across. I wished I had taken so much more to these lovely little islands. Am so glad we were able to help the wonderful work you do. Please let me know if there is any other way to stay connected.”
Calling all Cruise Ship Passengers going to Kiriwina please CLICK HERE to donate your CFK Birthing Kit delivery services. With the airport still closed your help is essential.
Thank you
The CFK Team
Thank you to the team at Beyond Q: Jenni Lawton and Simon Maddox, Linda Douglas at Chefs Kitchen and Mary Jonmundsson for making the Cooking Fun-raiser such as success. The money raised from ticket sales has gone directly into the CFK bank account and purchased Birthing Kit contents for our now active Canberra Beyond Q birthing kit assembly group to be initiated. We have many VBA’s on Kiriwina and the outer Islands to supply and this has necessitated an expansion of our assembly teams, we are now based in Sydney and Canberra. Anyone interested in joining the Canberra working group please contact Jenni on 0421 526 344. Thank you also to all the supporters that came to the event and purchased cooking equipment from Chef’s Kitchen. 20% of the total purchase price will be sent to our Charity and Chefs Kitchen will supply some of their high quality kitchen equipment for us to raffle off in the near future. Keep an eye out for more updates.
