Celebrating midwifery in Uganda

Partnering with midwives to deliver for mothers

Forty seven-year- old Gertrude Kabarozi, a mother of six, is all smiles as she narrates how a referral voucher helped her access treatment at Kabarole Hospital at the time of delivery.

"When I went into labour, my husband called a bodaboda who rushed me to hospital just in time. The cyclist was paid by the hospital, because I had earlier secured a referral voucher at sh3,000," Kabarozi says.

Kabarozi is one of the several mothers in Kabarole district who have benefited from the Saving Mothers, Giving Life project.

It is an initiative which has helped the district achieve a 50% reduction in maternal mortality rate and 85% skilled attendance, a figure which is higher than the national average, which stands at 75%.

Kabarozi's story is especially relevant today as we mark the World Midwifery Day under the theme Midwives, Mothers and Families: Partners for Life.

A Midwife in Uganda conducts between 350 and 500 deliveries a year

According to Maria Najjemba, the country midwifery advisor at the Ministry of Health, the theme is meant to strengthen the relationship between midwives, mothers and their families.

"We know that if midwives work in partnership with women and their families as they have been doing, decisions can be made about safe delivery," Najjemba says.

Saving mothers' project

Richard Mugahi, the Kabarole district health officer, says before the Saving Mothers, Giving Life project kicked off in 2013, they had a high maternal and newborn mortality rate that stood at about 505 mothers per 100,000 live births and skilled attendance stood at 58%. Mugahi says the achievement was progressive.

"From 58% in 2012 to 92% at the end of 2013 and because some incentives were reduced, the district dropped and stagnated at 85%," he explains. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

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Ministry of Health