STORY: Shamsa Abdullahi Bybook: A champion for

women’s reproductive health rights

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 6/FEBRUARY/2018, MOGADISHU SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, Bybook Maternity Hospital

2. Close up, Bybook Maternity Hospital
3. Med shot, Bybook Maternity Hospital
4. Wide shot, patients wait at the reception area to be served
5. Med shot, patients wait at the reception area to be served
6. Close up, patients wait at the reception area to be served
7. Wide shot, patients wait at the reception area to be served
8. Wide shot, receptionist registers a patient
9. Med shot, receptionist registers a patient
10. Close up, receptionist registers a patient
11. Wide shot, Dr. Shamsa Abdullahi Bybook performs diagnostic sonography on a
patient
12. Med shot, Dr. Shamsa Abdullahi Bybook performs diagnostic sonography on a
patient
13. Wide shot, Dr. Shamsa Abdullahi Bybook performs diagnostic sonography on a
patient
14. Close up, images from diagnostic sonography
15. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Dr. SHAMSA ABDULLAHI BYBOOK, DIRECTOR OF
BYBOOK MATERNITY HOSPITAL
“(We) opted for this idea (to establish a maternity hospital), me and my husband,
because my children were grown up, and we came here quite a few times on
holiday and we have seen the suffering the mothers are going through. And the
babies were dying for nothing, (because of lack of a) simple procedure which is
resuscitation and oxygen.”

16. Wide shot, a nurse checks the admitted patients

17. Med shot, a nurse checks the admitted patients
18. Close up, a nurse checks the admitted patients
19. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Dr. SHAMSA ABDULLAHI BYBOOK, DIRECTOR OF
BYBOOK MATERNITY HOSPITAL
“The opportunities I see today in Somalia is, first and foremost is the security and
if you see all the faculties or the institutions, (you will find that) the educational
institutions that are existing and teaching health programs are more than any
other branches in educational institutions today in Mogadishu. So for that
reason, what I think is (that) the health sector is becoming the best option for
anyone who is going to be educated in Somalia.”

20. Wide shot, lab technicians at work

21. Med shot, lab technicians at work
22. Close up, specimen from several patients at the hospital
23. Wide shot, a lab technician testing some samples from some of the patients
24. Close up, a lab technician testing some samples from some of the patients
25. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Dr. SHAMSA ABDULLAHI BYBOOK, DIRECTOR OF
BYBOOK MATERNITY HOSPITAL
“I would advise everyone who has got that ambition (to establish a hospital and
work as a medical practitioner) to go ahead with it. Do not stop, do not become
discouraged because we have been through it. Me and my husband, we have
been through there, we have sacrificed so many things; we have left our
children, our grandchildren just to sacrifice to have this (maternity hospital) and
help the people who are in need of our services.”

26. Wide shot, the pharmacy at the hospital

27. Med shot, a patient buys medicine from the pharmacy
28. Wide shot, a pharmacist at the hospital
29. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Dr. SHAMSA ABDULLAHI, DIRECTOR OF BYBOOK
MATERNITY HOSPITAL
“The biggest challenge is the staff that are working in the hospitals are not
appropriately trained. They are trained but not appropriately trained. And for
that reason so many mistakes are happening within the health skills or the
professional skills, whether they are doctors or nurses or midwives or laboratory
staff, pharmacists.”

30. Med shot, a pharmacist at the hospital

31. Close up, a patient buys medicine from the pharmacy
32. Wide shot, a patient buys medicine from the pharmacy
Shamsa Abdullahi Bybook: A champion for Somali women’s reproductive health
rights

Mogadishu – Shamsa Abdullahi Bybook was a young nurse in her twenties when
she fled the mounting chaos and tensions of Mogadishu in 1989 to start a new life in
the United Kingdom. She became an experienced midwife at a North London
hospital with a master’s degree from Middlesex University and raised a family.

But she never forgot Somalia. On her periodic visits to her homeland, the mother of
six was appalled by the poor medical facilities available to young pregnant women
and the numbers who died during childbirth.

“We saw the suffering the mothers were going through,” the 59-year-old native of
Kismaayo recalls. “The babies were also dying unnecessarily for (the lack) of a simple
procedure called resuscitation and oxygen.”

In 2016, she decided to do something about it. Shamsa and her husband packed
their bags and moved back to Mogadishu to found a maternity hospital offering
quality reproductive services to Somali women – the Bybook Maternity Hospital.

Shamsa fully realized the risks her homecoming entailed. She was working in London
as a part-time newsreader for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Somali
language service when she was sent to Kismaayo on assignment in 1997 and was
briefly abducted by armed militia.

Within months of her return to Mogadishu, the maternity hospital opened its doors
in the Hodan district of the Somali capital in October 2017. It offers a wide range of
inpatient and outpatient services that include safe birthing, pediatric and childcare,
female genital mutilation counselling, diagnostic sonography, postpartum care and
infertility care.

“We decided to be different by focusing more on quality care. For example, we

ensured that no newborn baby dies for lack of oxygen or resuscitation equipment or
even incubators. This is important for the country,” she observes, adding that she
has also launched a campaign touting the benefits of giving birth in a tub of warm
water to reduce maternal mortality rates.

The importance of high-quality medical facilities for Somalis cannot be overstated.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), mortality rates among
Somali children are amongst the highest in the world. One out of every seven Somali
children dies before their fifth birthday, which translates into a death rate of 137 out
of every 1,000 live births. Mortality rates for mothers are also high, with UNICEF
flagging that one out of every 12 women dies due to pregnancy-related causes – a
death rate of 732 out of every 100,000 live births.

The 45-bed Bybook Maternity Hospital records an average of 50 safe deliveries each
month and also treats newborns with breathing complications. Word of mouth has
spread the reputation of the hospital far and wide, with pregnant women coming
from towns as distant as Afgooye and Jowhar.

“Due to our positive effort, many people now know about our services,” notes
Shamsa. “Even less educated mothers tell me they have been told that we have
special equipment that help mothers and their newborn babies survive.”

However, the lack of effective regulation in Somalia’s health care sector remains a
source of constant concern for Shamsa. She blames poor training and inadequate
equipment for causing bodily harm and unnecessary loss of life on a regular basis.

“The staff who are working in the hospitals are not appropriately trained,” says
Shamsa. “The problem is that nobody is controlling the quality of education and
services that are offered.”

UNICEF notes that Somalia is plagued by inconsistent health care delivery structures,
with medical services provided by a mix of health authorities, private entities and
international and national non-governmental organizations. The former nurse urges
Somalis wishing to improve the state of health care in their country to consider
medicine as a career option and expand the number of hospitals that can save lives.

“My husband and I have left our children and our grandchildren to have this
(maternity hospital) and help the people who are in need of our services,” she says.
“I would advise everyone who has that ambition to go ahead with it because we
have been through it. Do not stop, do not become discouraged.”