Helen Hamilton
Lead Policy Analyst, WaterAid
Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur
Country Director, WaterAid Ghana
No woman should have to fear for her life when giving birth. No baby should die from a preventable infection. Yet every two seconds, a woman gives birth in a healthcare facility without adequate water, sanitation and hygiene.1
Imagine a mother who has just given birth. The maternity ward has no clean water. She must choose: wash herself and her baby in dirty water or remain in blood-stained clothes until she can return home.
There are no hygiene or sanitation services either. The midwife who helped deliver the baby can’t wash their hands or sterilise equipment. This is the reality for millions of women across the world, putting mothers, babies and midwives at serious risk of harm from preventable infections and sepsis.
Childbirth is dangerous without clean water, sanitation and hygiene
Globally, one in five healthcare facilities have no clean water. Two in five don’t have adequate handwashing facilities.2 In the least developed countries, over 75% lack basic sanitation services.2 “Yet, more than a million maternal and newborn deaths can be prevented with clean births,” says Helen Hamilton, Lead Policy Analyst at water, sanitation and hygiene NGO WaterAid.
Water is rationed, so cleaning
in some maternity wards
can’t be thorough.
Every mother has the right to a safe birth
In some areas of Ghana, as in many parts of the world, healthcare workers and pregnant women have to walk miles to collect water. “Water is rationed, so cleaning in some maternity wards can’t be thorough,” says Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur, Country Director, WaterAid Ghana. “There may also be postpartum infections from poor hygiene or unsterilised instruments.”
Sa-ambo Mueril, a young mother who had her first baby in the Worikambo health centre in Ghana when it had no water, says: “When they gave me drugs, there was no water to take them with. I had to go to the school to collect water. That means the midwives aren’t with you and cannot know for sure that you have taken the drugs. After labour, I had no clean water to clean myself or the baby. I had to stay overnight and could not wash after giving birth until I went home the next day.”
WaterAid later installed a solar water system, taps, sinks and bathrooms in the health centre. When Sa-ambo had her second baby, her experience was totally different: “I came to the facility and there was water. I could take the drugs. I even had a shower before and after delivery. The water has helped us so much.”
Together, we can make childbirth safer for every woman
No pregnant woman and newborn baby should die from an infection that could have been prevented. The time to act is now. Governments, health and finance leaders and international donors must invest in clean water, sanitation and hygiene in maternity wards.
“We know where investment is needed, and we know what women want,” says Hamilton. “Whether you’re a pregnant woman, a midwife or a doctor, you should be assured that you are in a safe space and will be treated with dignity. These are the basics, and a fundamental human right for every woman, everywhere.”
[1] WHO/UNICEF (2024). Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities2023 data update: special focus on primary health care.
[2] WHO/UNICEF (2022). Progress on WASH in health care facilities 2000–2021: special focus on WASH and infection prevention and control (IPC). Available at: washdata.org/reports/jmp2022-wash-hcf (accessed 29 Aug 2023).
