St. John Ambulance is our hope, says Buikwe residents

BUIKWE - Buikwe district residents have commended St. John Ambulance Uganda for its campaign to reduce maternal deaths through free medical services to expectant mothers.

The campaign, which benefits residents of Butembe landing site, Butembe village in Nyenga Sub-County and neighbouring villages in Buikwe district, targets attracting mainly mothers and children to routine health camps where they offer free services and discouraging them from delivering with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).

Speaking to New Vision, several mothers testified that before St. John's intervention, majority of expectant mothers in the area used to seek services from TBAs due to lack of nearby health facilities. 

A St. John Ambulance medic gives expectant mothers mama kits during the Butembe health camp on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (All Photos by Douglas Mubiru)

"I have just been given a mama kit immediately after antenatal care. To us mothers, we can't take this lightly because our husbands can not afford such clean and safe child delivery care kits for us, and it encourages us to go to medical facilities during delivery time," 26-year-old Proscovia Alupo stressed during the May 13, 2025, health camp.

It was also Alupo's testimony that her entire family was entirely dependent on Mama na Mwana (mother and child) project, an initiative of St. John Ambulance, tackling high maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Uganda.

"Many of us pregnant mothers who used to walk long distances for antenatal and risked delivering to unqualified medical personnel got a big relief when the project started free services here," she added.

A women receives family planning service from a medic during the health camp.

Avoid self-medication

During the health camp, Dr Josep Kasirye called upon expectant mothers to avoid self-medication.

Kasirye said on many occasions, pregnant women are seen going for self-medication when they start feeling unwell by taking drugs, which sometimes cause miscarriages.

He explained that self-medication is more dangerous during pregnancy since it can affect both the mother and her unborn child, warning that it even increases the chances of death for pregnant mothers.

He appealed to pregnant women to seek medical attention from designated health facilities so that they are given the right treatment and prescription.

"But I'm now glad that mothers come in big numbers for medical checks, and their children. This means our efforts are fruitful," he said.

A child being vaccinated.

Maternal deaths

A total of 1,182 maternal deaths and 28,050 perinatal deaths were reported in Uganda in 2019 and 2020, the National Annual Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response Report 2019/20 shows.

45% of all maternal deaths reported in Uganda were due to haemorrhage, the report shows, and four out of every ten mothers who die are adolescents.

Hypertensive disorders are the second leading cause of death (13%), followed by Malaria, HIV/AIDS, severe anaemia and other infections (11%), and pregnancy-related sepsis (10%).

Unplanned pregnancies 

Justine Nakintu, the health camp's coordinator, said about 800 patients were worked on, cautioning young girls and mothers about unplanned pregnancies.

"I am glad that many of you have now understood the value of family planning, we are giving it free of charge, seek any advice from our medics for any medical counselling before giving you the same," Nakintu told the health camp attendees.

Statistics  

The Performance Monitoring for Action Uganda survey conducted between September and November last year found that four out of 10 pregnancies (42%) in Uganda last year were unintended or unwanted. 

Although this represents a slight drop from 46% in 2022, family planning experts have flagged the figure as high and called for intensified efforts to reduce it further. 

Digging deeper, the number of unplanned pregnancies was even higher among unmarried women, at 54.6%, although it was slightly lower among married women, at 38.7%. 

Experts advise that women planning to conceive should avoid alcohol and adopt a healthy lifestyle.