Zimbabwe's maternal mortality rate increases

The high statistics in cases of maternal mortality continue to be a major concern for Zimbabwe, affecting mostly rural women who cannot afford proper health care.

Assistant Information Officer of the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Networking, Nyaradzai Changamire Hokonya, says the rapid increase in maternal mortality ratio is due to a number of factors including absence of trained health personnel and a degraded healthcare system.

Although the government says it has scrapped maternal fees in the country's hospitals, this policy has not been effected in both urban and rural clinics, with authorities arguing that the fees they charge are meant to cover extra medical needs necessary for deliveries.

The number of women dying during delivery in the country has increased from 725 to 960 out every 100 000 live births.

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