Tsunami cost Sumatra many midwives

[SoCalDem]

Tsunami cost Sumatra many midwives
Pregnant women left without any medical care

Saturday, January 22, 2005 Posted: 12:18 AM EST (0518 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/21/tsunami.midwives.ap/index.html

Midwife Revita, right, cradles 16-day-old Zakira, who was born in a tent in a refugee camp.


LAMBREH, Indonesia (AP) -- Some women have been forced to cut their newborn babies' umbilical cords with shards of bamboo. Others have had to walk through miles of jungle for prenatal help.After surviving the tsunami, many pregnant women are facing the danger of giving birth alone because of the deaths of hundreds of midwives in the disaster -- a loss felt deeply because the region had so few doctors even in the best of times.

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The Indonesian Midwives Association says 30 percent -- or some 1,650 -- of its members living on the northern tip of Sumatra island died in the catastrophe. Many who survived are too traumatized to resume work or lack equipment to safely deliver babies. Those still working are overwhelmed. Revita and her sister, Syukriah, have set up a base in a refugee camp in a clearing tucked in the lush green hills above the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. Revita says the two plan to stay in the camp, despite endless problems, including a scare Thursday from Indonesian soldiers who launched an attack against suspected separatist rebels in a nearby forest. Bursts of gunshots sent villagers, pregnant women among them, diving to the ground in fear.

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Revita knows firsthand the problems expectant mothers face. She recently gave birth to her own child in a dark tent without even a piece of soap -- to say nothing of basic obstetric care. Syukriah used a pair of scissors to cut the umbilical cord of her sister's newborn. Other mothers have used bamboo shards.

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Sisters Revita and Syukriah set up their camp with no medicine. Syukriah said she had to improvise by crushing medicinal roots to make traditional ointment for babies who came down with fevers and skin rashes.

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Acehnese culture also instructs women to stay at home for 60 days after giving birth, to recover from labor and because of beliefs that women are impure from the bleeding of childbirth. Henia Dakkak, a public health specialist for the U.N. Population Fund, said the group plans to distribute nearly 20 tons of hygiene and prenatal care products -- including razor blades, soap and sanitary napkins -- among survivors. Aid groups will also hand out headscarves, hoping to help many Muslim women who lost them as they ran for their lives. Without the coverings, these women will likely stay at home instead of going out to get aid. "Men are more likely to be aggressive in getting aid while women are left behind," Dakkak said. "We need to give more help to the women. The Acehnese can't afford to lose any more now."