The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
CLINIC push gifts have proven to be effective in increasing the number of women accessing ante-natal care services, skilled birth attendants and post-natal care services in Mutare District.
These are incentives given to pregnant women who choose to deliver their babies at health facilities, instead of home deliveries.
Mutare District has managed to take the idea to its rural clinics in its bid to fight maternal mortality and morbidity.
Such gifts come in the form of grocery hampers, baby clothes, blankets, diapers, soap and sanitary pads.
One of the clinics that have adopted the initiative and has been recording remarkable progress in fighting home deliveries is Dora Clinic, situated in Mutare’s peri-urban area.
In an interview with The Manica Post during a visit to the clinic recently, the Sister-in-Charge, Mrs Violet Chitsa said the gifts are part of a strategy to encourage institutional deliveries and reduce maternal and neonatal mortality at the clinic.
“These gifts have helped so much in increasing our deliveries at the clinic. We used to have close to zero deliveries because people in the community would opt for home deliveries due to religious and traditional beliefs.
“However, when the Community Results Based Financing (RBF) programme was introduced, we brainstormed on what to do for us to get the ball rolling and ensure that we have more institutional deliveries.
“We found out that giving hampers to expecting mothers as push gifts would encourage them to access ante-natal care services, skilled birth attendants and postnatal care services.
“The mothers are getting a balanced diet and appropriate clothing for their newly born babies upon birth for free,” said Mrs Chitsa.
She said the win-win solution has seen the small clinic which used to deliver less than 20 babies a year delivering between 90 and 100 babies a year over the past few years.
In the past decade, and up to December 2022, the clinic recorded 581 institutional deliveries and 221 home deliveries, thanks to the implementation of RBF.
All 581 mothers received the push gifts.
“We also keep in our records the number of home deliveries and they have been declining, while the institutional ones are increasing. Before RBF, the institution had more home deliveries than institutional deliveries,” she said.
According to Mrs Chitsa, apart from the push gifts, the clinic also provides free nutritious food at the waiting mother’s shelter.
“We want to make sure that our waiting mothers are well fed and comfortable so that they don’t travel long distances to access ante-natal care.
“Most rural woman shun booking into waiting mothers’ shelters due to poverty. They don’t have enough money to buy food for themselves and their children back at home. They think it is better to stay at home than to ‘waste’ money while waiting for delivery,” she said.
Dora Clinic also works with village health workers who are part of the Ministry of Health and Child Care to encourage pregnant women to access ante-natal care services.
In an interview, a village health worker, Ms Melania Sabuwu of Karuza Village, said some pregnant women usually opt for institutional deliveries when they learn about the push gifts.
“Push gifts have been a major incentive for rural women to access health services at clinics. As village health workers, we have helped women understand that they need regular medical check-ups for their babies to be healthy,” she said.
Ms Sabuwu, whose ambition is to become a nurse, said seeing women smiling as they welcome their newly born babies bring joy to her heart.
“My current occupation is closer to my dream job of being a nurse. Through RBF, I was trained to do pregnancy testing as well as many other duties.
“Once the pregnancy test comes out positive, I immediately refer the woman to the clinic where she will access ante-natal services. I also do follow-up visits so that the expecting mothers visits to the clinic eight times before birth as required.
“I encourage them to register their pregnancies and when they reach 36 weeks, I do follow-up visits. This, coupled with the push gifts and a fully packaged waiting mother’s shelter, has helped us to bring expecting mothers to the clinics,” she said.
A beneficiary, Ms Charity Muchinaro of Bvirindi Village said the push gift helped her get back on her feet after giving birth in 2017.
“I managed to get free regular ante-natal check-ups at the clinic and I safely delivered my baby boy who is now six years old.
“Before that, I had not know that these services are free and that is why l was being assisted by untrained midwives in my community.
“There was a grocery hamper and some clothes for the baby. Through the food, I was healthy and provided adequate milk for my baby,” said Ms Muchinaro.
She said she delivered her first three children at home and lost two of them due to birth complications.
The push gifts were made possible by the RBF and the Health Sector Development Support Project Additional Financing (HSDSP AF), which is co-financed by Government and the World Bank.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development AID (CORDAID) are the implementing partners.
