(ANS - Goma) - According to a report of the NGO "Save the Children" published in May 2013, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is "the worst country to be a mother."  The Don Bosco Centre in Goma-Ngangi, which has always been close to the poor, including sick mothers and orphans, is committed to tackling this situation.

From the NGO report, "Situation of mothers in the world", it emerges that in the DRC, one woman in 30 is likely to die from problems related to maternity. In Goma in North Kivu it is estimated that 13% of women risk their lives during childbirth.  In Finland, the country at the top of the table, the figure is one woman in12,200.

For more than 10 years the Don Bosco Centre has run an orphanage for children from birth to 2 or 3 years. It is called ‘Casa Ushindi’ which is Swahili for ‘House of Victory’.  If a mother dies in childbirth or if the family does not have the means to feed and care for the baby, the father can obtain a reference from the Special Police for the Protection of Children (PSPE) and bring the child to the Don Bosco Centre.  Social workers there decide what is best for the child, whether to help the family by providing milk, if they can keep the child at home, or to accept the child at the orphanage until the age of 2 or 3 years when it can then be returned to the family.

To tackle the causes of maternal mortality, the Don Bosco Centre has also introduced a project for the training of medical personnel. This project is assisted by VIS, the NGO of Salesian Volunteers for International Development, and is approved by the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Launched a year ago with the collaboration of the National Program of Reproductive Health (PNSR) and the Provincial Medical Inspector of North Kivu, the course has provided 6 training sessions for over 100 doctors and nurses in Goma who are specialists in maternity .

Those in charge of the course have explored issues such as prenatal consultation, support for pregnant women, childbirth, neonatal care ... and they have invited medical staff always to put the patient at the centre of the medical system. They also point out that the fight against maternal illness and neonatal mortality is in line with the mission of the Lord Jesus who came so that all may have life in abundance.

“A woman must not lose her life while giving birth,” was how a spokesperson for last season’s participants summed up the situation.

Published 07/10/2013