Zero maternal deaths by 2030 push registering progress

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Uganda is registering significant progress in meeting its target of ending maternal deaths by 2023.

Health ministry statistics over five years indicate that related deaths have declined from 209 per 100,000 live births in 2020 to 69 fatalities by 2025. This is a 25% decline over the period.

The progress may appear great, but medics say there is a need to work hard to get fatality statistics to zero.

To achieve the dream of ensuring that each delivering mother leaves the hospital alive with a bouncing baby by 2030, both state and non-state actors are pooling efforts.

On the eve of International Women's Day commemorations, private health care provider Spes Medical Care Centre in Kitintale, Kampala, held a sexual and reproductive health camp to provide medical care, including antenatal.

The medics regretted that a few men took part in accompanying their women for antenatal checkups and related care.

Given the fact that almost all women who sought antenatal checkups were unaccompanied by their partners. It is for this reason that when a young couple showed up, it was easily identified.



Bruno Bwayo, 23, said this was one of the ways he could show companionship to his wife, Joyce Namata, 20, attracting praise from medics. The young couple is expecting their firstborn.

“It is very important to accompany our spouses for antenatal because without that, you may not experience all that your wife goes through in the process of pregnancy and childbirth,” he said.

He added, “This is what I picked from my parents. My dad used to go with my mother for antenatal. I have more young brothers. So, we found out how this created their unity and the bond of the family,” he added.

Bwayo said he has since observed that some men do not accompany their wives for antenatal because they fear answering questions from health workers.

“The reason why most men fear this is that they do not want to be answerable. But you have to stand as a man. I want to encourage all men not to fear questions, because men were created to be answerable all the time,” he said.

Namata commended her husband for being a responsible young man and encouraged other men to always accompany their wives for antenatal saying it is a sweet experience which creates confidence in a woman in challenging moments of pregnancy.

“I am feeling good about my husband escorting me to this antenatal. I am appealing to women to go for antenatal. They should not fear because what doctors tell us are helpful,” she said.

Esther Ninsima, a midwife at the health facility, revealed that the role of men in antenatal care is still low, which undermines efforts to ensure that every mother delivers well.

“Going for antenatal care is so important for mothers as it helps to reduce the maternal mortality and morbidity rates. I mean, most of the time, mothers get pregnant, they develop complications, and they are not identified. Our director got the vision that we should at least conduct this camp today as we mark women’s day to help mothers who are living with both antenatal checkups and other medical checkups, and once the risks are identified, we have our doctors to handle them,” Ninsima said.

The conditions most pregnant women suffer, she said, include preeclampsia or hypertension, postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), which is bleeding after delivery, and antepartum haemorrhage, which occurs before labour starts.

The world for the 2026 International Women’s Day galvanised under the theme “Give to Gain,” highlighting the importance of mutual support and collective progress while encouraging acts of giving in many forms, whether through donations, sharing knowledge, providing resources and infrastructure, among others.

Dr Jawadu Niwamanya, the lead doctor at the facility, said the medical camp placed emphasis on supporting expectant mothers, promoting early child planning literacy, and providing guidance to couples experiencing fertility challenges.

“Reproductive health is foundational to family stability and national development. When maternal health services are accessible, we reduce preventable complications, maternal mortality, and newborn risks. Early screening, timely antenatal care, and informed family planning empower women and couples to make safe, confident decisions about their health,” Niwamanya said.