Maternity waiting area improves access to care for labor and complications of pregnancy, and building maternity waiting area is, therefore, a strategy designed for inaccessible areas to facilitate the timely movement from home to health facility by diminishing barriers that inhibit access to care such as distance, geography, time of day, infrastructure, transport, and communication between referral points.
Women residing in the maternity waiting area can easily access the health facility for essential childbirth care or care for obstetric complications. A study conducted by Tegene, et al. in 2018 concludes that maternity waiting area contributes more than 80% to the reduction of maternal death and 70% to stillbirth among users in developing countries and Ethiopia.
With a financial support from Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (HFE) constructed a materiality waiting area in Amarit Health Center, Amhara Region, and handed over to the community on March 28, 2019.
In his speech during the handing over ceremony, attended by HFE’s Senior Management Team, representatives from Zone and Woreda Heath Bureaus and members of the community, HFE’s A/CEO, Ato Tesfaye Mamo said that the construction of the maternity waiting area at Amarit Health Center will have enormous benefit to the community, particularly in improving institutional delivery and in reducing child and maternal mortality in the area.
While congratulating the community on the construction of the maternity waiting area, HFE’s Prevention Manager, Ato Zelalem Belete, indicated that Amarit Health Center has achieved great results in the reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality despite challenges related to drugs and medical equipment. “I hope this modern waiting area will significantly contribute to the great results the center has achieved so far,” he added.
Following the handover, members of the community and representatives from Zone and Woreda Health Bureaus were filled with pride and excitement to see their longstanding issue solved through the support from Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia.
