Boma la Mama has the goal of providing Tanzanian women safe and respectful maternity care in a clinic and low risk birth centre. This centre will be partnered with the Boma la Mama Midwifery Education Program for Tanzanians.
The Centre will be in the highly populated Arusha region of Tanzania, one of the poorest countries of the world.
Boma la Mama aims to decrease maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in the Arusha region of Tanzania by providing free and safe maternity care, public education, and midwifery education to Tanzanians.
The women of Tanzania are in desperate need of safe and quality maternity care. While the infant mortality rate is 95 per 1000, the maternal rate is a shocking 578 in 100 000, one of the highest in the world. To provide a statistical comparison, Canada’s infant mortality is less than 5 per 1000, and its maternal mortality is 12 in 100 000.
Current initiatives to improve Tanzanian figures focus on encouraging all women to deliver in health centres, and to attend prenatal clinic no less than 4 times, with at least 1 visit in the first trimester. Though this campaign has been successful, health centres are habitually above capacity, under stocked, and understaffed.
The Vision
Boma la Mama will be on a large compound with lush trees and a cool breeze, overlooking the amazing landscape of Moduli district. There will be training building, the birth centre with three wards, a group education area, and kitchen and laundry facilities. Boma la Mama aims to complement the Tanzanian maternity health service by running and funding a parallel clinic, alleviating public hospitals of overcrowding on their wards. Boma la Mama will improve maternal health by targeting many of the challenges faced by health facilities and patients. The facets of achieving this goal include running a well-supplied clinic, adequate staffing, educating women and families, providing free care, and ongoing education for midwives, while linking them to the international midwifery community. Boma la Mama intends to introduce the model of midwifery care to maternal health practice in Tanzania. The clinic will improve infant health by educating women and providing postpartum care to women for 6 weeks; including well baby checks, immunizations, and breastfeeding counselling.
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