GABORONE, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Botswana is working hard to improve maternity services by training more nurses to be midwives to handle complicated births, a healthcare official said Thursday.
Sifelani Malima, a family planning coordinator in Botswana's ministry of health and wellness, said nurses are being offered better education on how to handle pregnant women with the hope of reducing maternal deaths.
"Botswana is aiming to lower maternal deaths after 55 mothers die while giving births between January and August this year," said Malima in a virtual media briefing on efforts being taken to reduce maternal deaths in the southern African country.
Malima said three leading causes of maternal deaths in Botswana are postpartum hemorrhage or excessive bleeding while delivering, hypertensive diseases of pregnancy, and unsafe abortion.
According to Malima, the southern African country is developing policies and guidelines with a view of showing the healthcare workers the tools on how to offer the best care to pregnant women.
"We are also engaging in researches with a view of finding faults in the delivery of health within the system," she said.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aim to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths for every 100, 000 live births by 2030. Enditem
