Winnie Manene was destined for a blessing on March 9, 2021. Being the International Mothers’ Day, Manene had nothing much more to ask for than to safely deliver her twins at the Juba Teaching Hospital’s department of Gynecology and Obstetrics to crown the day.

Her wish may have been granted but something was amiss. She had no enough blood and that would complicate her life after delivery and all she needed was a well calculated post natal care-for her and the babies.

She became a victim of biting blood shortage that has hit Juba Teaching Hospital hard, and endangers the lives of women who visit the hospital for delivery.  And even if relatives go out of their ways to donate blood, obstacles emerge like incompatibility of blood groups which further endanger lives of the patients.

 In the case of Manene, she had to be whisked back to the hospital for urgent further treatment but no solution was found. No transfusion happened.

“I gave birth on Tuesday and went home,” she said. “But after that day I was brought back to [the] hospital because I didn’t have blood and when I came to the hospital there was no blood to be given to me.”

Not matching

Winnie was speaking to City Review in an exclusive interview with the two newly-born babies beside her. She was drained and visibly weakened. Her skin pale communicating the message of necessary medical intervention but getting blood to match her group was a daunting task.

“These are my first born [twins] and I am very proud of them however I am feeling very weak I was told I don’t have blood and my blood group is hard to get,” she said.

She resorted to haemoglobin-producing soft beverages upon a recommendation by medics at the blood-strapped hospital.

But Winnie is just one of the many women taken to the Juba Teaching Hospital and faced by this life-threatening citrcumstances.

The midwife who attended to Winnie said her blood group was among those which are difficult to easily find in people, including her own relatives.

“Yes there is lack of no blood in the hospital but normally we could get a relative who has the same blood group to donate, but Manene’s [Winnie’s] case is that even her relatives blood group is different from her so it was hard for us to solve her issue.

“But I advised her to drink a lot of fluids that can provide her with blood and I have given her tabs to boost her immune system,” said the woman who asked to be identified as Mama Juma.

Teething problem

The Managing Director for Gynecology and Obstetrics at Juba Teaching Hospital, Juma Ejidio Kasmiro, confirmed the prevalence of blood shortage at the country’s biggest health institution.

“Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology wants to establish a blood bank that can be especially for women because we need blood mostly after caecilian section,” he said.

The director also revealed that after delivery, there are some mothers with underlying health conditions like anemia and that some women do not have relatives to donate blood, hence the shortage puts their lives at an enormous risk.

 “Some people do fear to donate blood and that has made it so hard for them because there is no blood in the hospital or at times there is blood at the blood bank but it is not enough,” Kasmiro lamented.

Kasmiro said that there was need to encourage people to donate blood, especially for women at the obstetrics.

Blood donation saves lives and gets people on the verge of recovery when they are sick or injured.  However, with more than one in six expectant mothers likely to require blood during pregnancy or childbirth, this crucial aspect is often overlooked. “We need blood but usually the relatives to the patients fear to donate blood and the main blood bank does not have ready blood for the women so we have to struggle to get the blood,” he said.