12, 000 births, zero deaths: Malawians celebrate hero midwife Charity Salima.

Whenever 63-year-old Malawian midwife Charity Salima strolls along the streets of Lilongwe, her country's capital, mothers from different houses would scream out in excitement, 'Charity! Charity!!' The women would walk up to her, their babies nestled in their hands, saying: 'Here's your grandchild.'

Ms. Salima is now accustomed to such open displays of affection, having delivered about 12,000 babies without a single fatality since 2008.

When a woman comes to us in labor, gives birth and goes home with her bundle of joy, that makes me really happy.

She retired from Malawi's public health service in 2006 after 26 years and in 2008 she established the 10-maternity-bed Achikondi Women's Clinic in Area 23, a deprived township in Southeast Lilongwe. Achikondi means "love."

Ms. Salima herself is a mother of three children and three grandchildren. She ascribes her motivation to the joy that women get upon giving birth. 'When a woman comes to us in labor, gives birth and goes home with her bundle of joy, that makes me really happy,' she tells Africa Renewal.

'I was pained seeing pregnant women in Area 23 walk long distances to receive birth services and medicines,' she explains, describing the circumstances that led her to set up a clinic. 'So, I thought to bring these services closer to the people. As you know, labor can start anytime-night or daytime.'

She says women in labour sometimes come knocking on her door late at night asking for help.

Achikondi does not charge fees for services; instead, patients are encouraged to make a voluntary donation to cover electricity and water bills. Those who can make such a donation do so, but the vast majority who cannot also receive needed services.

Ms. Salima admits receiving financial support from institutions in foreign countries, including the Freedom from Fistula Foundation in Scotland, while students of the George Watson College, also in Scotland, have chipped in.

In addition, her clinic works closely with the Kamuzu Central and the Mutharika Maternity Wings, which are Malawi's largest referral hospitals.

'We're not an island,' she maintains. 'We work hand-in-hand with fellow midwives at the referral hospitals.'

Notwithstanding Ms. Salima's outstanding success as a midwife, the child-birth mortality rate in Malawi is troubling.

As of 2020, on average 38.6 babies under the age of five die out of every 1,000 births, reports UNICEF, listing the main causes of neonatal deaths as prematurity, birth asphyxia...