'A mother and baby saved'

This new mother has recently given birth at our local partner's hospital in Arusha, Tanzania. Despite going through five previous pregnancies, she had never borne a living child.

Our local colleague describes how, ‘Having no live children in cultures such as Tanzania’s is a source of great shame. She had tried to commit suicide twice. She came to us midway through her pregnancy and we were able to look after her in the hospital throughout the last half of her pregnancy. This was only made possible thanks to the free meals provided by IMPACT. She would not have afforded to stay in hospital otherwise. She got close to term with good monitoring and some simple medical management. We tried to induce labour but this failed so she had a caesarean section. This is her first live child – a mother and baby saved.’

Without the medical monitoring and extensive hospital stay made possible through this project, the outcome of her pregnancy could well have been very different.

www.impact.org.uk