Low health facility-based births worry health officials

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Butambala district health officials are worried about the low numbers of mothers that deliver from the health facilities under the care of professional health workers.

Mpigi Epi Health Centre III medical clinical officer Yunusu Kimulike said their health facility registers high numbers of mothers going for antennal care, however few return for deliveries.

"We receive between 150 to 200 women for antenatal each month, however, only about 60 mothers deliver at the health centre," he said.

 
Kimulike said, according to their research, mothers prefer delivering at traditional birth attendants places as they are close to their localities.

Mpigi Health Center III located in Kalamba village, Butambala district is one of the few isolated health centers utilizing all available local innovations to ensure that the community is served.

The Health Centre receives an average of 50 patients a day who come seeking medical assistance for different ailments. All these services are provided free of charge under the government of Uganda support.

 
Challenges

Kimulike explained that the centre has only two maternity beds, so they cannot serve the big number of patients they receive.

"We are forced to discharge mothers as soon as they give birth in order to admit those that are due for birth," he added.

The centre also lacks electricity. "We depend on solar energy to carry out work at night, however, the energy depends on the weather," he said.

Butambala district health officer Dr Samuel Sekamate confirmed that electricity is a challenge in some of the health facilities.

"Some centres find it hard to store vaccines as these are stored in fridges yet there's no electricity," Sekamate said.

Sekamate added that the other challenge is limited space that affects service delivery at times.

 
Relief

To help the health centre serve its community well during this COVID-19 pandemic, The Hunger Project has donated an assortment of protective gears.

These included face masks, surgical gloves and liquid soap that was valued at sh5m.

They are also carrying out a number of renovations and expansion at the health centre to be able to accommodate more patients, especially in the maternity section.

Gerald Kato of The Hunger Project Uganda said part of their mandate is to extend help to the health sector especially in hard to reach areas.