A Malawi Newborn With a Potent Message

MALAWI — He emerged at 3 a.m., unaware of the significance of his birth in a hospital in the Mangochi district here. The boy, born to Mayamiko Kachipande just hours after the global population mark of midnight on 31 October, was chosen as the country’s 7 Billion Baby, becoming an important symbol for Malawi as the rest of the world celebrated the 7 billion milestone.

His birth was also important in Mangochi because its population of 881,085 is growing at a rate of 3.7 per cent – part of the country's unprecedented boom.

The Mangochi district has also experienced a rise in the number of young mothers, resulting in more cases of women suffering from obstetric fistula, said Gift Malunga, UNFPA deputy country representative. This involves urinal or faecal incontinence and mostly results from women giving birth at a young age.

UNFPA has made significant inroads in dealing with maternal problems in Malawi, including lowering the high maternal death rate.

Helping women with fistula

The Mangochi district ranks among the worst for fistula occurrence in Malawi, along with Thyolo, Mchinji, Phalombe and Nkhatabay districts, said Grace Hiwa, UNFPA National Programme Officer for Reproductive Health. She has helped organise a fistula camp in Thyolo, 90 kilometres south of Blantyre, where more than 100 women are expected to receive help in November and December.

Visiting surgeons will deal with the most complicated cases and help train local clinicians in the procedures. Ms. Hiwa is providing technical assistance to the Malawi Government for the camp. The interventions have significantly improved the lives of more than 400 women who have been treated at the fistula camps since they were launched in 2009, she said.

Resuming their place in society

It may seem a small gesture considering the scale of the problem, but for those women suffering from fistula, the camp makes a world of difference. It allows the women to resume their rightful place in society with dignity and confidence. It also helps spread the word that the debilitating condition is not a burden that they need to carry for life and that solutions exist – including pre-emptive ones.

It helps that they will also learn what causes fistula and that it's a medical condition and not a form of 'punishment' for any perceived wrongdoing, as some communities believe. In these communities they are likely to become vocal and influential advocates against early pregnancy and child marriage by their new-found knowledge.

Perhaps by the time Malawi’s symbolic 7 Billion Baby becomes an adult and seeks a wife, the woman will be empowered enough to marry and bear children later, space the children adequately and choose her desired number of offspring, all leading to a better quality of life for her family and the community. Perhaps by then, too, this boy’s message will have been received.

— Reported by Lindsay Barnes