By Francis H. Murray
30-year old Sia Finoh, a resident of Makor Village in the Tensedakor Section, Sao Chiefdom, Kono District was forced to deliver in a nearby bush on her way to their long distance hospital.
The woman, whose labour pain began in the early hours of Saturday 16 January 2021, was assisted by other women for what would have been a journey of over seven miles to access the only hospital which serves at least eight other communities.
After some miles into the journey, Sia’s labour pain intensified, leaving the other women with no option but to stop the journey along the way and send for a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) to help save the mother and baby.
She shared her experience with Politico some hours after she had been safely delivered of a bouncing baby girl.
“I gave birth to this child today under dire circumstances which seem to be the normal thing for many other women in my situation” she said.
She went on to say that when her pain intensified the women who were accompanying her on the journey realised it was risky to continue walking.
She said that at some point, the pain became so unbearable that she was unable to walk by herself, resulting in them sending for a TBA in the nearby village of Louma while she was moved into the nearby bush to wait.
“The pain was so serious that I wasn’t in a position to move. They sent for a TBA in the nearby village who rushed to the scene and met the baby ready to come out. So with her help and that of the women, I delivered safely,” she explained.
Recounting her ordeal, Sia said the most serious of her situation was the fact that she couldn’t determine when she would be attended to or treated by trained and qualified medical doctors or other health practitioners since she might not be able to reach the hospital.
But despite the fact she delivered safely, access to postnatal medical attention or care remains far-fetched for her. Hours after delivery, she didn’t receive any postnatal medical attention because she couldn’t risk riding on a motorcycle to cover over 10 miles to access medical care. Even if she did, there’s no assurance she would get the required attention because more often than not, “we are only given common Panadol” amid the shortage or unavailability of appropriate drugs.
Louma, the nearby village very close to where Sia delivered, is situated some seven miles from the Sierra Leone-Guinea border and surrounded by seven other communities who are faced with similar situations.
Sia James is the traditional birth attendant who’s called to assist. She said most other women go through the same situation throughout the year due to the long distance they have to cover to access a hospital amidst the bad road network.
She told Politico that having served as a TBA in the Louma Community and its environs for seven years, she considered Sia as lucky because at the time the messenger got to the village, she was still around. She said that over the years, some women had lost their children and in some instances mothers could not get immediate medical attention after delivery.
“I have served this community in this capacity for seven years now, but Sia [Finoh] is lucky and strong, because by the time I got there she was almost delivering and did so without any complications. When I got to the scene and observed her situation, it was clear to me that she needed no further movement but rather to go into labour proper,’’ the birth attendant said.
The Louma headman, Bashiru Foday said that issues of women in the township and its environs were serious and remain a big threat to child delivery. He said that every year at least one or two women and children died because of the difficulty they faced, adding that they were forced, as men, to advise their women to take contraceptives for fear of death during childbirth.
“When a woman is in labour here, almost all the women and some able-bodied men are involved to help save the lives of the mother and her baby. Last year, we lost a woman and at another time a child and this has been like the normal routine. We have given our wives contraceptives to deter them from getting pregnant for fear of losing them at the end of the day,’’ he added.
Highlighting the challenges of his town, Chief Foday said they lacked toilet facilities and were forced to drink from a stream.
He called on the authorities concerned to come to their rescue.
To join in alleviating the community’s constraints in accessing health care for the eight communities, Sierra Leoneans in Minnesota (SIERRASOTA) a local nongovernmental organisation headed by Kumba Senesie who’s based in the United States of America, have begun the construction of a 50-bed net hospital in Louma town. The construction which started in 2019 is close to completion with only the fixing of doors, windows, tiles, electrical fittings and painting remaining.
According to Mohamed Savage, National Coordinator of SIERRSOTA, the construction project had been delayed because of the outbreak of COVID-19, but assured representatives of the seven communities that the project would be completed this year.
The hospital, when ready, will serve eight communities: Yendu, Makor, Biadu, Njawama, Kaingedu, SamanKanekor,Yengema and Lauma itself.
The story of Sia is the order of the day for many other women in most communities where access to basic health care remains a dream.
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