SOUTH SUDAN / MATERNAL HEALTH

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / MATERNAL HEALTH
TRT: 2.28
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: LOPIT / ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 8-9 MARCH 2012, TORIT, EASTERN EQUATORIA, SOUTH SUDAN

SHOTLIST:

1. Pan right, women waiting outside the maternity ward of Torit Civil Hospital
2. Close shot, women waiting outside the ward
3. Various shots, Lugina surrounded by relatives
4. SOUNDBITE (Lopit) Lugina Michael, mother:
“I spent 5 days at home in pain, then we finally got a car and I was brought here the same day. When I arrived, I didn’t know what time it was, and what was happening to me.”
5. Close shot, Lugina’s newborn baby
6. Close shot, huts built on the mountain
7. Wide shot, the area with the mountain as backdrop
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Estrina Zacharia, midwife:
“The biggest problem for women in labor is the lack of transport. For those live far, by the time they are brought to the hospital, they are already very weak. Sometimes the child is dead in the womb, or we deliver the baby alive but the mother is very weak.”
9. Med shot, (L cut over Soundbite) women and children waiting outside the maternity ward at Torit Civil
10. Med shot, (L cut over Soundbite) a man sitting next to his expectant wife inside the ward
11. Tilt down, Lugina drinking porridge while holding her baby in her arm
12. Wide shot, Torit Civil Hospital
13. Close up, the maternal and child health wing with UNICEF logo
14. Med shot, a nurse checking a pregnant woman’s blood pressure
15. Med shot, a midwife examining the pregnant woman
16. Med shot, a nurse getting blood sample from a pregnant woman for HIV test
17. Pan right, the maternal and child health wing
18. Med shot, a midwife examining a pregnant woman
19. Pan right, vaccines provided by UNICEF
20. Pan right, the mountainous region
21. Med shot, women in their way to fetch water
22. Med shot, women and girls on their way to fetch water
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Romanus Mkerenga, UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition, South Sudan:
“Maternal mortality in South Sudan is one of the highest in the world. However, in the last few years a lot of progress has been made towards alleviating this situation. Antenatal clinics have been increasing in numbers throughout the country; the quality of healthcare workers has also been improving due to the training that UNICEF is supporting in different parts of the country. There has also been a lot of work of UNICEF with the partners in terms of awareness creation so that mothers do come to services in time and also as frequently as required”
24. Med shot, (L cut over Soundbite) women and their children waiting outside the maternal and child health wing at Torit Civil Hospital
25. Close up, (L cut over Soundbite) a baby
26. Close up, (L cut over Soundbite) another baby
27. Pan right, (L cut over Soundbite) pregnant women waiting to receive service
28. Close shot, (L cut over Soundbite) bellies of the pregnant women
29. Close shot, (L cut over Soundbite) a nurse getting blood sample from a pregnant woman for HIV test
30. Med shot, (L cut over Soundbite) a pregnant woman getting onto the scale for weight checking
31. Close shot, (L cut over Soundbite) a pregnant woman speaking while being examined
32. Pan right, a pregnant woman waiting to give birth
33. Close up, a newborn
34. Close up, another newborn on the scale
35. Med shot, a herd of sheep crossing the road
36. Med shot, a girl with a water bucket on her head
37. Tilt down, pregnant women
38. Close up, Lugina’s newborn resting in her arms


STORYLINE:

It was a busy morning in the maternity ward of Torit Civil Hospital in Eatern Equatoria State.

As family members shower the newborn with love and affection, Lugina Michael recalls her difficult labour.

SOUNDBITE (Lopit) Lugina Michael, mother:
“I spent 5 days at home in pain, then we finally got a car and I was brought here the same day. When I arrived, I didn’t know what time it was, and what was happening to me.”

Lugina is from a mountainous region like this. It is 80 kilometres away from Torit, the state capital, accessible only by dirt road.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Estrina Zacharia, Midwife:
“The biggest problem for women in labor is the lack of transport. For those live far, by the time they are brought to the hospital, they are already very weak. Sometimes the child is dead in the womb, or we deliver the baby alive but the mother is very weak.”

Lugina came to the right place.

Unlike other health facilities in the region, this state hospital has a full- fledged maternal and child health wing, offering integrated services of antenatal, immunization, HIV testing and counseling and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

UNICEF supports the hospital with construction of new wards, training of midwives, and providing essential supplies such as vaccines.

But more needs to be done.

In South Sudan, only 19 percent of deliveries are attended by skilled health workers, and women and children in rural areas have far less access to healthcare compared to urban populations.

SOUNDBITE (English) Romanus Mkerenga, UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition, South Sudan:
“Maternal mortality in South Sudan is one of the highest in the world. However, in the last few years a lot of progress has been made towards alleviating this situation. Antenatal clinics have been increasing in numbers throughout the country; the quality of healthcare workers has also been improving due to the training that UNICEF is supporting in different parts of the country. There has been a lot of work of UNICEF with the partners in terms of awareness creation so that mothers do come to services in time and also as frequently as required”

It will be a painstaking process, but a worthy one, as the new nation’s future lies heavily on the health and survival of its mothers and their children.