Reports from Parken Town Chiefdom in Liberia’s southeastern River Gee County say a pregnant woman has given birth along the way, after walking four hours to get to health facility.
But both the mother and infant have since thankfully survived the ordeal, as the woman was assisted by the local correspondent of the state broadcaster, ELBC who is said to have use his motorbike to assist in ferrying them to a health facility.
Parken Chiefdom is the largest chiefdom in District #3 and situated near the Liberia-Ivory Coast border, nearly 518 kilometers from the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
People living in that part of the country are said “to be living on different planet” due to their unbearable conditions and are virtually in isolation from the rest of the country in this 21st century.
The incident in River Gee comes weeks after reports from Liberia’s northwestern Lofa county that the health team was investigating the death of yet another pregnant woman, who reportedly died on a commercial vehicle en route to get medical attention amidst logistical problems facing the health system amid deplorable roads.
According to family members of the young pregnant woman, age 22 and identified as Hawa Kamara, she had entered her nine months on Friday December 27, when the unfortunate incident occurred.
A UN Women report in 2017 says: “With 1,072 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births, Liberia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, according to UNICEF. The mortality rate of newborns, within the first 28 days of life, is also high—37 for every 1,000 live births.”
Locals in the River Gee chiefdom of Parken say people are still drinking from creeks, with regular incidence of diarrhea.
“Imagine if there is an emergency situation where someone is critically ill what happens to them when they have to walk four hours distance before accessing the nearest health facility,” one River Gee resident added.
Residents of the Parken Chiefdom in question can only have access to their lawmaker when during the electoral season, one local claimed.
Both the pregnant and husband were walking to the nearest health facility when she gave birth along the way. Report by Garmah Never Lomo