Portrait of a Village Birth Attendant
Portraits by Greg Low (Chair of Living Child)
For many women in remote communities of Papua New Guinea, community volunteers like Village Birth Attendants and Village Health Assistants are the first and only source of support during one of the most dangerous chapters of their lives.
VBAs and VHAs are ordinary community members chosen by their villages for the trust they carry. In areas with no roads, no reliable telecommunications, and maternal mortality rates among the highest in the world, they step into the gap. Their knowledge comes from lived experience. Many cannot read or write. They go where they are called, at all hours, in all conditions.
“I do the job, but sometimes it’s emergency and we just used anything - like leaf, or they give birth on the grass. For us we have sorcery in the village, so we are scared and sometimes danger happens, how can we help - life is lost.”
“I live far away in a village called Longuk. If there is no blade to cut the belly button, I used bamboo and sharpen it as blade to cut and the baby is alive.”
Training changes what a VBA knows, and what she has. Clean birth kits, solar lights, and evidence-based instruction in recognising danger signs transform what is possible. Postpartum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death in these communities. Knowing the warning signs, and knowing what to do, saves lives.
“At first I work without lights, I used dry coconut leaf to light it up … then Sara brought birthing kits and lights that makes me happy a bit. I want a labour ward where I can attend to mother and baby and the mosquitoes will not suck baby’s blood.”
“Since Living Child started, I have seen health improve. Mothers got family planning (contraceptive implant) and they are healthy, no deaths, babies alive and no deaths, mothers look smart and healthy.”
“I want to support the women [in my village] with the training that Living Child came and gave me. I went back, sat with the ladies and educated them on childbirth. Living Child helped us and now we got implants which is a big thing for us, and I believe that is a big change that happened.”
Living Child is looking forward to returning to the Keram for a new round of Helpim Mama training. What makes this trip particularly meaningful is that we are aiming to train our largest cohort of new VBAs and VHAs to date - younger community members who have been elected by their own villages as people with the right qualities and the right heart for this role. Preparing for this training has meant printing and assembling training guides, sourcing demonstration materials and visual aids, and a huge amount of teamwork to make sure all bases are covered. There is a lot to carry - literally and figuratively!