Power cuts threaten maternal healthcare services

ROLLING power cuts are crippling vital maternal healthcare services at some council clinics in Harare, placing expecting mothers and newborns at risk, an investigation by NewsDay has revealed.

Without access to alternative sources of power such as solar backup, the consequences of blackouts in clinics, especially those dealing with emergencies like childbirth, have been severe.

Zimbabweans are enduring consistent electricity blackouts lasting more than 15 hours per day.

The investigation also showed that understaffed and underfunded council clinics that serve as the primary prenatal care services are ill-prepared to handle power outages lasting several hours.

For expecting mothers, this spells disaster.

In an interview with NewsDay, Nyarai Rutsito (41), said she endured a harrowing experience when electricity went off while she was in labour at a local polyclinic.

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“I had been in labour for several hours when electricity suddenly went out,” she narrated her ordeal.

“The nurses told me that from the resultant complications I needed an emergency Caesarian-section because my baby was in distress.

“They could not put me on oxygen because there was no power. I was terrified, lying there in the dark, praying they would be able to save me and my child.”

Rutsito, who was rushed to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals for the Caesarean operation, eventually got oxygen in an ambulance as she continued having breathing challenges. She never imagined that power cuts would threaten her life at her most vulnerable moment.

“The generator at the clinic wasn’t working and there was no solar backup. The clinic had no lithium batteries,” she said.

“I could hear the nurses discussing if I would make it if they transferred me to the hospital, but it was too late. All they could do was to try to assist me the best they could in the dark. I was lucky, but I know other women may not be.”

A midwife at St Mary’s Clinic in Chitungwiza, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said sometimes they used other means as sources of light or candles when attending to expecting mothers during labour if there is no electricity.

“It’s terrifying, especially in cases of complications. The lithium batteries need to be replaced,” she said.

 St Mary’s Clinic is one of the clinics that do not have a functional power backup.

Maternity wards require consistent electricity to power critical medical equipment.

Incubators, foetal heart monitors and sterilisation machines all depend on a steady flow of electricity.

Without these tools, medical staff is forced to rely on manual methods or stop treatment altogether, leading to preventable fatalities.

Harare mayor Jacob Mafume said they were planning to ensure that all municipal clinics were adequately powered with solar systems.

“We are going to make sure that all our council clinics are backed up with solar units,” he said. “Babies do not announce their time of arrival. Their first experience should have light when they come out. They cannot come out from darkness into darkness.”

In Chitungwiza, only two clinics have functioning solar backup systems, spokesperson of the municipality Tafadzwa Kachiko said.

“Chitungwiza has a total of four council clinics, Seke North, Seke South, St Mary’s and Zengeza. Out of the four, Seke North and South have power backups of solar energy,” he said.

Kachiko said Zengeza and St Mary’s clinics in Chitungwiza had been grappling with power outages after their once-reliable solar power systems ceased functioning.

“We used to have solar power at all the clinics but the systems at Zengeza and St Mary's are no longer working. We are looking forward to upgrading them so that there won't be disruptions because of power outages. Availability of power at our clinics is very essential especially for maternal Healthcare. Parties interested in supporting us in that area are welcomed as we move to capacitate our clinics,” Kachiko said.

Harare municipality health services manager, Richard Chigerwe, said the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was in the process of procuring new lithium batteries to power council clinics without back-up systems.

“So far 12 polyclinics received solar backup and the cost was US$240 000, Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital also received a 40KW solar system worth US$35 000 and one at Wilkins worth US$10 000,” Chigerwe said.

“The total cost was US$565 000 and the funder was UNDP. On challenges, the current solar system needs to be replaced with a modern system that consumes less space and harvests more energy. All ground mounting needs to be changed to roof mounting so that we avoid vandalism,” Chigerwe said.

Health experts said there was a need to ensure alternative energy sources to keep essential services running as the country grapples with power outages.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo said there was need for all health facilities to have power backup.

“These worsening power outages can put the lives of pregnant women and their newborns at serious risk. So there is need for solar alternatives, which can save lives during critical childbirth moments,” Dongo said.

Harare medical doctor and president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe Johanne Marisa said 37% of maternal deaths were attributed to power outages.

 “There is no health institution which should run now without a power backup,” Marisa said.

“Failure to capacitate health institutions is suicidal and I encourage all responsible authorities to make sure that they have power backups as they are mandatory.”

Maternal mortality in Zimbabwe is 363 per 100 000 live births, according to the preliminary results of the 2022 Housing and Population Census.

Combined Harare Residents Association programmes manager Reuben Akili, also raised concern over the dire conditions expecting mothers are facing due to inadequate access to essential resources during labour.

“We have been running a maternal health programme for the past four years and what we have observed is that access to water and electricity has been a challenge especially for mothers who are delivering their babies,” Akili said.

“Clinics are asking mothers to bring a bucket of water and candles, creating a desperate situation for those seeking care.”

He also acknowledged the installation of solar-powered boreholes and solar lighting at council clinics such as the Mabvuku Polyclinic.

“In the 2025 national budget, we need fiscal commitment towards health, which will ensure that every health facility is well equipped to avoid unnecessary deaths,” he said.

He called on authorities to prioritise solar power installation to guarantee uninterrupted electricity in health facilities, ensuring that critical services remain available, even during power outages.

In 2022, Donald Mujiri spokeperson for the Health and Child Care ministry, said about 1 047 public health facilities, mainly in rural areas, had access to solar energy through a government programme designed to provide electricity and back-up power at all health centres in the country.

UNDP has supported Zimbabwe in terms of providing solar in the health sector.

A California-based NGO, We Care Solar, has been working with the government to install solar power systems in clinics and hospitals nationwide.

In 2022, the Health ministry partnered the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund in a project to power rural health facilities with solar systems.

The project was aimed at improving access to quality healthcare services for women and children in Chipinge and Chimanimani in Manicaland province as well as Gokwe North and South in Midlands.