Everything Under The Sun: Help For Single Mothers In Africa

Some of the women and infants who received health insurance.

There is definite awareness that being a single parent places a considerable amount of stress on the individual, since all of the decisions and responsibilities land on that one parent. If it's hard in this country, which is fairly wealthy, imagine what it is in countries that don't have similar resources.

That's true in Africa, where the NGO, MISSION FOR AFRICAN MOTHERS (MAM), operates. Back in November, with help from JEWISH HELPING HANDS and WOMEN'S INTER-CHURCH COUNCIL OF CANADA, the organization began an effort to obtain one year of medical insurance to these new families. As in the US, becoming pregnant without being married presents its own form of turmoil. With the provision of medical insurance, these women could now receive medication and health care without worrying about who was paying the bill. By the way, this health insurance that was provided to mother and infant for the first year of the infant's life was given gratis, without costing the women a single penny.

As the program has grown since November, more and more mothers and infants have been served. Those who benefit can receive care at any area hospital. Most of the women-infant pairs live in the slum areas of Kamokya, Bwaise, Kyebando, Katanga, and Mulago, so they were most likely to utilize the services of Mulago referral main hospital and other local hospitals.

Another issue of concern is poor maternal nutrition in the case of expectant mothers. In Uganda, some of the factors that prevent appropriate nutrition include poverty, poor eating choices, cultural traditions, lack of knowledge, and illiteracy. Various institutional entities, including the government, fail women when there is insufficient funding and lack of appropriate education on what appropriate maternal nutrition involves.

Such nutritional foods as eggs, fish, meat, liver, and milk, which are locally available and provide good nutrition during pregnancy, are out of reach in affordability. Many pregnant single women don't have the money or support to be able to access these food sources, and thus, suffer from the lack of good nutrition.

Lack of education and the ability to read produce its own difficulties. With good nutrition unavailable because of costs, the lack of knowledge and reading skills may cause these women to turn to such unhealthy choices as alcohol, with its consequent permanent effects on the fetus. The same goes with smoking cigarettes, which can curb appetite and dull the sense of hunger, but has its effects on the mother's health and may be implicated in future behavioral problems for the baby-in-formation.

Insurance cards give access to vital health insurance.

So, the NGOs and their development partners need to step in to fill in the gaps by providing maternal education and even access to the needed nutritional resources. As it is becoming rather obvious, the way a woman is treated has an impact on the children she has.