“Waiting Safely for Motherhood”
“While staying here, I had no worry about food,” she explained. “Food supplies were available.”
At just twenty-two years old, Yirga Kinfe carried both the excitement of becoming a mother for the first time and the quiet worries that often come with it. Her pregnancy journey had already taught her something many rural mothers know too well: when health services are far away, every day closer to delivery can feel uncertain.
She came from Mahbere Selam, where reaching a health facility is not always easy. The nearest health facility is about …. kilometers away, and transportation is limited. For many pregnant women, distance itself becomes a risk.
“In Ethiopia, secondary delay remains a major maternal health challenge, with studies showing that nearly four in ten women face delays reaching health facilities during labor and delivery.”
Just a week before her expected delivery, Yirga traveled to the health center for her antenatal care visit. It was there that health workers told her about the maternity waiting home, a place where mothers from distant areas could stay safely near the health center as they waited for labor.
At first, she could hardly believe it.
“I was so happy,” Yirga recalled. “There is a place at the health center where I can stay until I deliver. Because I live far from the health center, and there is no ambulance due to fuel shortage.”
For Yirga, the maternity waiting home changed everything. Instead of worrying about how she would reach care when labor started, she now had a safe place to stay, surrounded by support and medical services.
But what touched her most was something she had not expected.
“While staying here, I had no worry about food,” she explained. “Food supplies were available.”
Her voice carried visible relief as she spoke. The maternity waiting home provided essential food supplies including teff, flour, sugar, and coffee, allowing mothers to prepare meals while staying close to care.
She understood how difficult it would have been otherwise, asking family members to travel long distances just to bring basic food supplies while she waited for childbirth.
During her stay, Yirga also received an obstetric ultrasound service, another important source of reassurance during her pregnancy journey.
“Besides that,” she added with a smile, “I was also able to get an ultrasound scan. So this truly feels like a full service.”
