Growing Maternal Needs Inside Malakal PoC
A steady stream of pregnant women files through the dusty lanes of Malakal’s Protection of Civilians site, hoping the International Organization for Migration clinic can safeguard their pregnancies.
Yet persistent medicine shortages and an overstretched workforce are testing that hope, threatening to undo gains South Sudan has made in maternal health.
First-hand Voices From Expectant Mothers
Nine month pregnant Abla Lazem says that when prescriptions cannot be filled inside the camp, families must search expensive private pharmacies or go without treatment (Eye Radio).
Four month along Najuma James echoes the concern, praising the facility’s cleanliness yet fearing complications if essential drugs remain out of stock.
Seven month patient Biding Odhak recounts nights when only a single nurse juggles deliveries, examinations, and child consultations, a routine she calls ‘unbearable but unavoidable’.
Clinic Staff Confront Resource Gaps
Nurse Gloria Eno Alex often handles twenty-five antenatal clients every weekday, while also conducting HIV and syphilis tests and staying on call for unexpected deliveries.
She insists that critical drugs do arrive but restocking delays, especially in family-planning supplies, leave dangerous windows of scarcity.
Alex believes additional personnel and salary adjustments would stabilise services, warning that current workloads are ‘simply unsustainable’.
Pathways Toward Sustainable Support
Humanitarian agencies report that the Malakal PoC hosts more than thirty-five thousand residents, yet funding for health interventions has stagnated as new crises emerge across the region.
Local authorities and international partners are exploring joint procurement systems to cut delivery times, and remote-training platforms to expand the midwife pool without major infrastructure costs.
Community leaders argue that strengthening the clinic now will ripple beyond the camp, improving maternal outcomes in Upper Nile State and reinforcing broader public-health goals.