Riziki Salehe is from the Katoro region of Tanzania. Already
a mother to an eleven year old child, Riziki had since experienced difficulties
during pregnancies – with this one being her fourth.
It was identified during this pregnancy that she was
carrying twins – something that brought joy to her and her family. However, despite
this pregnancy being viable there were some complications. Riziki had high
blood pressure and some concern over how her kidneys were functioning. She
attended multiple check ups and antenatal sessions during her pregnancy to help
manage and monitor these concerns.
“Labour started when I was still at home.
Mother Riziki reflects.
I just felt different, and that’s when I came to the hospital. It didn’t take
long before I gave birth.”
After the delivery at the Katoro Health Centre of the first
twin, Riziki began to bleed heavily. She lost a lot of blood.
Thankfully for Riziki and her newborn babies, her midwife
had been trained as part of the Safer Births Bundle of Care program and knew
how to identify and manage postpartum hemorrage: the leading cause of maternal deaths.
“I felt like I had reached my limit. The
Mother Riziki explains.
nurse advised me to calm my mind. She said she wanted to do something that
would make me feel better.”
Edina Morris, Riziki’s midwife, drew on her regular,
hands-on simulation training to gather support from the medical team required to
manage the PPH. The team administered Ringer’s Lactate, misoprostol, extra
oxytocin and transexamic acid. They also continued to clear remaining clots and
massage the uterus to encourage it to contract and the bleeding to stop.
“After over an hour and a half of rest in
Midwife Edina explains.
the labour room, we transferred the mother and her two healthy babies to the
postnatal ward without any complications.”
Riziki survived.
