Aussie Couple’s Donation Helps Build Life-Saving Maternity Hospital in Tanzania

After nearly three decades serving as an obstetric fistula surgeon across Africa, Dr Andrew Browning has witnessed the heartbreaking reality facing women who can’t reach medical care during labour.

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Please note: this article mentions suicide and may be distressing to some readers. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or visit Wesley Mission.

“Women can be left in labour for three, four, five, seven days,” Andrew told Hope 103.2.

Without timely help, many deliver a stillborn baby and wake days later with catastrophic internal injuries.

“When they do regain consciousness, they find they’re leaking uncontrollably,” Andrew said.

“The long labour’s destroyed all the tissues in their pelvis.

“Women can be left in labour for… seven days… many deliver a stillborn baby and wake days later with catastrophic internal injuries.” Andrew told Hope 103.2.

The injury, known as obstetric fistula, leaves women isolated and often deeply distressed.

“They leak, they smell, they’re ashamed. Many of them are suicidal,” Andrew said.

Through the Australian charity Barbara May Foundation (BMF), Andrew has spent years treating these women and building maternity hospitals to prevent the injury altogether.

“Last year in our networks, we delivered [babies for] over 16,000 women for free,” Andrew said.

“Not a single fistula occurred.”

“Last year in our networks, we delivered [babies for] over 16,000 women for free… not a single fistula occurred.”

That mission has now taken a remarkable leap forward with a $2.6 million donation from Sydney couple Anthony and Rae McLellan, devout Christians who wanted to honour Phaedra Vrontamitis, their daughter’s mother-in-law, killed in the 1998 Nairobi embassy bombing. Their gift will fully fund BMF’s fifth African hospital – a new 40-bed maternity facility in Chamwino, central Tanzania, serving more than 300,000 people.

“I almost fell off my seat when I heard that phone call,” Andrew said.

“We were praying to expand our work, and God answers prayers in miraculous ways.”

Expected to open in 2027, the Chamwino hospital will feature modern delivery suites, operating theatres, and a training centre for midwives and doctors. It’s designed to safely deliver around 1,750 babies and repair 100 fistulas each year, directly addressing Tanzania’s maternal mortality rate, where a mother currently dies in childbirth every 90 minutes due to limited access to skilled care.

That mission has now taken a remarkable leap forward with a $2.6 million donation from Sydney couple Anthony and Rae McLellan, who wanted to honour Phaedra Vrontamitis.

“This hospital will provide a safe place for mothers to give birth and for women suffering obstetric fistula to receive restorative surgery and compassionate care,” Andrew said.

BMF General Manager Karen Baker emphasised how critical the facility will be for the region.

“In areas where trained midwives and safe facilities are scarce, too many women still die giving life,” Karen said.

“This hospital will change that, bringing professional care, compassion and dignity to mothers who need it most.”

Anthony said he and Rae were deeply moved after reading Andrew’s book A Doctor in Africa and wanted to honour Phaedra in a way that reflected her love for people.

“Our family wanted to turn loss into legacy,” Anthony said.

“The Phaedra Hospital will not only save lives but also train the next generation of African doctors and midwives. That’s something Phaedra would have loved.”

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or visit Wesley Mission.

Feature image: Supplied (Barbara May Foundation)