In a natural disaster, the risk of dying in childbirth is much higher than usual. UNFPA has pre-positioned six (06) Reproductive Health Kits in Tuléar to allow 270 deliveries in safety standards and free of charge.
On Friday, 22 February 2013, category 2 tropical cyclone Haruna heavily the south-west coast of Madagascar leaving flooded and destroyed cities on its way. The provisional record shows several dozen deaths, missing people and more than 9,000 displaced including pregnant women.
The situation left by cyclone Haruna only increases the risks of excess mortality and maternal morbidity as well as the morbidity sexually transmitted infections and the increase in cases of gender-based violence. "The maternal mortality rate in Madagascar is already very high, and in this situation of humanitarian crisis the lives of pregnant women and newborn babies are more than dangerous," said Mrs. Agathe Lawson, Representative of the United Nations Fund for the population in Madagascar.
In response to this humanitarian crisis, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has a major role in providing products and services to ensure that pregnant women can deliver the required medical standards free of charge. In fact, taken in an unstable environment, the lives of pregnant women, newborns is in peril. UNFPA's emergency response to humanitarian situations includes supplying health facilities with individual delivery kits, hygiene kits, equipment, medicines and supplies needed to provide clinical assistance during childbirth, and emergency obstetric care.
UNFPA's humanitarian response, totaling USD 165,000 , is aimed at restoring the service provision of the most affected primary health centres as soon as possible so that maternal and neonatal care as well as free quality family planning can be readily available. This response allows pregnant women to be given the opportunity to give birth at the community level under minimal hygiene conditions and to be able to access family planning services for those who need them. Finally, UNFPA's response helps restore some dignity for those pregnant women who have lost everything.
