Village birth attendants a lifeline for rural PNG



Mama Zature displays the exercise book she uses to keep birth records.

By LYDIA KAIA

If guardian angels move among us on this earth, some of them must surely be Village Birth Attendants.

One such ‘angel’ is mama Zatura Patari from Zaire Village, located on the South Coast of Morobe Patrol Post.  I met Zatura when the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen program organised a partnership workshopon maternal health in Morobe Province.    She has delivered babies under the harshest, most trying conditions, helping countless women over the years.  Ministering with efficiency and compassion at  many joyous, wonderful events but also many difficult ones; some too sick,  some too old, some too young.  It’s a role she plays humbly for her community without payment or reward. 

Zatura now in her 70’s has helped deliver more than a 192 babies since 2003 when she started keeping her own record of births. During the interview, she beamed as she opened her A4 exercise book to show me names, dates, weight and other information of women and their babies that she’s helped during delivery.

Zatura told me tales of how sometimes she has spent hours walking or paddling, usually armed only with a torch and a bush knife but always with a prayer for vigilance.

Her tales range from nearly being bitten by poisonous snakes to a terrifying incident where her canoe was overturned due to torrential rains and she was almost swept away by the relentless currents of Wara Waria.

In her own words:   “Ating bikman bin stap long sait blo mi displa nite, taim kanu kapsait, mi hariap tru suwim i go na kalap antap long wanpla diwai na kam lo arere blo wara. tasol mi lusim bilum, kanu na tos blo mi.”

(I think God was by my side that night as I swam across the river and climbed onto a log to get to the river bank, but I lost my torch, bilum and canoe.”)

Zatura also told me of the places where women have given birth, sometimes under a tree or in their homes  with birthing kits made from razor blades and bamboo splints, often in places where clean water is scarce.

She said these days the number of deliveries she assists has increased to two or three a day and most of these women are either too young, old or are having babies too close to their last birth.  For many, Village Birth Attendants are  the only support service for women in labour, in places where no qualified midwife is available.

Village birth attendants can help pregnant women recognise labour or danger signs during and after childbirth and can save the lives of pregnant women and their babies.   They are considered a lifeline because childbearing in Papua New Guinea can be such a risky business in a country where the rugged landscape and sparse population means that the nearest health center is often hundreds of kilometers away.

According to a recent UN report, 1,500 women in PNG die every year because of pregnancy-related complications. Around five women die every day due to childbirth and pregnancy and these deaths are all the more tragic because most could have been prevented. 

The Australian Government through the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen (SPSN) program is therefore exploring opportunities to strengthen coalitions that promote Maternal Health such as the Safe Motherhood Alliance, and is supporting 67 groups across the country.



Young mother cuddles her baby outside the Susus Mama clinic in Port Moresby. Susu Mama is part of the Safe Motherhood Alliance that SPSN supports.