The Tosamaganga Hospital in Tanzania handles around 3,000 births each year. AnnaJoyce, head nurse of the maternity ward and a professional midwife, assists many of them. Altough she has been working in this facility for about twenty years, what just happened here a few days ago is something extremely rare.
“A triplet vaginal delivery, so delicate and so successful, is such a success!”
And indeed, this delivery was a real success. Beta Andrea, the mother’s name, arrived in labor with what AnnaJoyce describes as an “enormous belly.” Nobody at Tosamaganga Hospital had ever seen anything like it.
Since the woman lives in a village in the neighboring district, two hours away by bus, she had attended prenatal visits at the local health center. A community facility like many in Iringa and across the country. Centers that provide basic services with essential tools—and certainly without an ultrasound machine.
“The mother had no idea about her condition,” says AnnaJoyce. “When she arrived in labor, we immediately performed an ultrasound and discovered it was a triplet pregnancy! A surprise for her, and for her husband who had accompanied her.”
Labor didn’t last long— just the time for AnnaJoyce to prepare the mother, give her some instructions, and reassure her before delivery. With over twenty years of experience, she knew very well the risks involved: a hemorrhage could have put the mother, and the babies, in serious danger. But that day in the delivery room, things went just right. Alongside AnnaJoyce were Arianna, a JPO in gynecology, and a second midwife. It was a team effort, carried out with perfect collaboration and at the right pace.
“Timing is essential. Being three in the room was important because each of us had a role, we knew what to do, and if complications had arisen, we were ready to act.”
Beta Andrea gave birth to three baby girls, born premature at 32 weeks of gestation, but healthy. They were immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, where Giulia and Veronica, JPOs in pediatrics, took care of them during the most delicate moments.
“We immediately encouraged the mother and father to practice kangaroo care. Incubators are certainly fundamental in cases like this, but skin-to-skin contact should never be overlooked—it has countless benefits for the newborns and for the bond created with their parents,” explained Giulia Guerrini, JPO in pediatrics.
In that small, tidy, and quiet room of Tosamaganga Hospital, Ana Beta and her husband spent days and weeks holding their little girls—Arianna, Giulia, and Veronica—close to their chests. Their daughters will always remind them that this hospital, miles away from home, is a place of care and hope.
