By Charles Jjuuko

Kayunga district Woman MP Florence Nayiga has blamed the Government for allocating inadequate funds for reproductive health.

This, she said, was responsible for the increasing maternal and mortality rates.

Speaking at the International Midwives Day celebrations at Kayunga Hospital on Tuesday, Nayiga said health units countrywide lacked midwives and basic equipment for expectant mothers.

“This has forced many mothers to deliver at the hands of traditional birth attendants and a number of them and their babies have died in the process,” Nayiga said.

Nayiga pledged to lobby in Parliament and among development partners for more resources to be channelled to reproductive health.

The United Nations Population Fund country representative, Janet Jackson, said pregnancy-related deaths were due to lack of skilled birth attendants and bad roads, which make transportation of pregnant mothers to health facilities hard.

Jackson appealed to the Government to increase the salaries of midwives and improve their working conditions.

The district speaker, Rosemary Nakalawa, disclosed that the district was preparing to recruit more midwives.