Bultu is a 32 year old woman who lives in a remote village in the West Wollega region of Ethiopia. Her village is almost 2 hours walk from the nearest health centre.
When she was 34 weeks pregnant, Bultu attended the new Maternity Worldwide maternal health clinic at her nearest health centre at Homa. Staff at the clinic had been trained by Maternity Worldwide to identify which mothers face the highest risks when they deliver their babies.
One of the leading risk factors is the number of pregnancies a woman has had previously. This was Bultu’s 5th pregnancy which meant that she was at risk from post partum haemorrhage (that is heavy bleeding following the birth, a major cause of death in mothers in developing countries). The nurse therefore advised Bultu to come to the clinic to have her baby so she could get the skilled care she needed.
Bultu followed this advice and came to the clinic when she was 41 weeks pregnant. She told the nurse her waters had broken a week earlier. The nurse, who had been trained by Maternity Worldwide in the procedure, carried out an ultrasound scan on Bultu which showed there was no fluid around the baby. Because of this both mother and baby were at risk of serious infection and Bultu was advised to have her baby at Gimbie Hospital.
On arrival at the hospital the baby was found to be in distress and an emergency caesarean was carried out.
Bultu delivered a baby boy, Elsay, weighing 3.7kg and both she and the baby are healthy and well.
Two years later on a recent visit to Ethiopia we were able to catch up with Bultu to find out how she is getting in, you can read about her and Elsay here.
