It is Theresa’s son, nurse at Chiulo Hospital, one of the first 2025 newborns. In just a few hours, Theresa found herself on the other side of care.
As for the first delivery, she gave birth to her second child in the hospital where qualified personnel could handle any unforeseen complications—a task she usually performs in that same facility, alongside the hospital’s medical team.
In fact, a few hours before her son’s birth, Theresa was still on duty at Chiulo Hospital. As her first contractions began, she and Francesca Rossi, a gynecology resident, were assisting two women who had arrived at the hospital with childbirth complications: one with a retained placenta requiring emergency surgery, and another with a twin pregnancy complicated by eclampsia and cerebral malaria.
«In Angola, women can benefit from maternity leave for only 90 days- Francesca Rossi explains -. Theresa decided to work until full term so she could then spend the first months with her baby. On Friday evening, as her first contractions started, she was still on shift. She spent the night managing emergencies and supporting the team through very challenging moments».
Theresa stopped working just a few hours before labor began. Her baby boy was born on Sunday in good health, weighing 2.78 kg. Both mother and baby are doing well and returned home on Monday. Theresa will care for her newborn over the next three months before returning to Chiulo Hospital to assist other women through the delicate moment of childbirth.
Every year, approximately 280,000 women die during childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa. Hemorrhages, complications, the distance from hospitals, and insufficient or inadequately trained personnel are the primary causes of maternal mortality. In Angola, the maternal mortality rate stands at 222 per 100,000 live births.
