Vitumbiko, 25, had heard stories about women dying during childbirth at her local clinic in Malawi.
Giving birth at a healthcare facility without access to water brings a whole new, shocking set of challenges.
More than two billion people still lacked access to safe drinking water as of 2015, a 2017 World Health Organisation (WHO) report shows.
Meanwhile, health centres that see more than 200 patients each day make do with just one midwife and one doctor.
A 2014 survey of more than 1 000 health facilities that had access to water showed that only half had adequate hygiene standards and even fewer reported decent sanitation, the 2015 WHO report shows.
Without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, it’s impossible for medical staff to deliver quality care, putting the lives of patients in danger and contributing to the spread of diseases and the rise of drug-resistant infections as more antibiotics are needed to battle infections that good hygiene might have prevented.
In Malawi, 634 women die during or after birth for every 100 000 babies born alive, 2015 Unicef statistics reveal.
We cannot expect healthcare facilities without adequate water, sanitation and hygiene to provide health services that will keep patients safe.
If they do, they could adopt a resolution that says every clinic and hospital should have adequate water, sanitation and hygiene.
Vitumbiko’s baby arrived safely and well.