Mother and midwife; the strongest partnership
“More women should have a Hellen,” says Miriam. “Midwives are very important. Thanks to Hellen, I have two healthy children, and I’ve been able to choose when to have them.”
Miriam Joseph and her baby son Joel in Maridi, South Sudan
South Sudan is one of the world’s most dangerous places to give birth, where only 1 in 5 births takes place in the presence of a skilled health worker.
This was what 25-year-old Miriam Joseph faced when she experienced complications while pregnant in Maridi, South Sudan. Miriam’s baby was in a breech position, making delivery difficult – and dangerous.
Thanks to the trusting relationship she developed with Hellen, her assigned midwife, the complications were quickly identified, and the danger subsided. Hellen supported Miriam to safely deliver her healthy baby boy, Joel.
Midwife Hellen Hadia in Maridi, South Sudan
“As a young girl, I told my grandfather that I would be a nurse,” says Hellen Hadia, a 25-year-old midwife-in-training at the Maridi Institute of Health Sciences, South Sudan.
And now she is a midwife, seeing mothers and children doing well after birth gives her satisfaction in her important role. She believes that women deserve to make decisions on issues that affect their lives.
Yet too often in South Sudan, this is not the case. Pregnancies and births are risky because the health system is under-funded and under-staffed.
We’re working with midwives like Hellen to ensure they have the skills to change this.
Pictured: Midwife Hellen Hadia, Miriam Joseph and her children Joel and Inji (c) Kennedy Musyoka 2022