A Healthier Future for South Sudan's Families

With only one medical doctor for every 65,574 people and one midwife for every 39,088 people, South Sudan experiences one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world: 789 deaths per 100,000 live births—as opposed to 21 deaths in the United States. The lack of personnel to provide lifesaving care impacts the availability of skilled attendance before, during and after childbirth.

International Medical Corps is contributing to the South Sudanese government’s goal of reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity rates in the country, and increasing the number of skilled birth attendants. Today, we operate three midwifery and nursing schools in South Sudan, at Kajo Keji Health Sciences Institute, Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery, and Wau Health Sciences Institute.

“Our midwifery school tutors use mixed training methods that focus on skills building so that newly graduated midwives have the confidence to perform services such as Basic Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (known as BEmONC) in the health facilities where they work,” says Janet, our deputy director of health policy and practice. Our teams offer continuous training opportunities for school faculty to ensure that they are equipped with the latest tools and resources to graduate new midwives.

Every year, we increase the number of skilled birth attendants in the country, saving the lives of mothers and newborns. We enrolled our first students in Kajo Keji Health Sciences Institute in 2008, and our schools have graduated a total of 273 trained professionals: 230 midwives and 43 nurses.

Approximately 15% of women will suffer from complications during childbirth, usually due to obstructed labor, puerperal sepsis, hypertensive conditions such as eclampsia, and obstetric hemorrhage.

Regardless of where she lives or what medical services she has at her disposal, a woman’s chance of losing her life as a result of these complications decreases dramatically, by as much as two thirds, when she has an attendant present at delivery who is proficient in Basic Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (BEmONC).

To address these complications, BEmONC is a set of seven signal functions or interventions that must be available to all women at the time of delivery. Parenteral treatment of infection with antibiotics, vacuum-assisted delivery, and manual removal of the placenta and newborn resuscitation are just a few examples of BEmONC interventions.

Our teams work directly with the Ministry of Health to improve our training in BEmONC at the three schools and ensure the long-term sustainability of our midwifery programs.

Janet adds that, “There is an urgent need to expand the number of midwifery training programs in order to meet the need for skilled birth attendants in South Sudan.”

We thank you and the GlobalGiving community for your support as we build the capacity of medical professionals in South Sudan, and work to address gaps in maternal and neonatal care—and save lives.