Saving Women’s Lives

A letter from Nancy McGaughey serving in South Sudan

November 2015

 “Society must make a conscious decision that a woman’s life is worth saving”

Apel Bior has lived in Minkaman settlement for internally displaced people (IDPs) since the conflict of 2013/14.  She was pregnant with her first child, but wasn’t really sure what to expect.  She started having pains around 10 p.m. one night but didn’t tell anyone.  Three days later she was still having pain, and family and friends convinced her to go to the Bor State Hospital Reproductive Health Clinic (funded by UNFPA) in Minkaman.

She was examined by the midwife on duty.  After being observed, she was diagnosed with obstructed labor and was referred to Bor State Hospital for further management.

But there was one problem—she had to cross the Nile, a 40-minute boat ride, to get to the hospital.  She was in pain.  She had no money for transportation.  But she needed to go now!  Her life and that of her baby depended upon it.

Apel and son

Clinic staff alerted the Clinic Manager Tereza Achuei.  Tereza contacted the staff of IMA partner Sudan Medical Care (SMC).  They sent their speedboat to bring Apel to Bor.  She was transported to Bor State Hospital, where she was met by Dr. Yak.  After a quick assessment she was off to surgery.  Minutes later she was the proud mother of a baby boy.  The combined efforts of the clinic staff in Minkaman, SMC staff, and Dr. Yak and his surgical team saved the lives of both Apel and her son.

South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality in the world! 2,054 women die due to pregnancy-related illnesses for every 100,000 children born (compared to 21 women per 100,000 live births in U.S.A.).  The Director General for Reproductive Health in South Sudan has said, “It is important for our society to make a conscious decision that a woman’s life is worth saving.”

With funding from the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), that is what we are doing.   The clinic in Minkaman was opened in April 2014 to serve reproductive health needs of displaced people from the conflict in Bor.  Now serving both displaced and host needs, the clinic has provided antenatal care to 2,581 women coming for the first time (Jan.-Oct. 2015).  74 percent of those women have returned at least three more times.  Amazing when you consider that the national average for at least four antenatal visits is less than 10 percent.

newborn at Minkaman clinic

730 women have given birth at the clinic so far this year, each of them receiving the drug misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage—the main cause of maternal deaths in South Sudan.  In this place a conscious decision that women’s lives are worth saving has been made.

Your support, prayers and financial contributions, have helped to make this work possible.  You are a very important part and I am grateful for each and every one of you.  May our Father bless you as you have so richly blessed the lives of people in South Sudan.

I will be returning to the U.S.A. in April 2016 and will be available for itineration.  I would be happy to visit with you, sharing more stories of South Sudan.  If you would like a visit, please send me an e-mail at nemcgaughey1149@gmail.com with the dates you would prefer.  I encourage you to work with other churches in the area to schedule events so the story can reach as many as possible.  I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in person in 2016.

Please continue praying for:

1.  The ongoing peace process.  That the transition government can be formed and all will work together for the betterment of South Sudan.
2. That more people will realize the importance of women’s lives, encouraging them to seek health care during their pregnancy and deliver with the assistance of a skilled health person.
3. Thank God for his daily guidance and protection of those serving people here in South Sudan.
4. Praise for the wonder of His creation, for the peace that comes His presence.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas, filled with the wonders of His Gifts for all of us.

Blessings,
Nanc

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 139