Saving Lives at Birth; Maternal Health in Uganda

Our organization is constantly growing its reach in the community and with that means more members have joined our team to become part of the Shanti Family. In the past few months we have added two new midwives to the team with varying levels of experience, but a shared enthusiasm for the work we are doing a Shanti Uganda.

Sister Josephine has stepped into the role of Head Midwife with over 35 years of midwifery experience. She has both hands on experience catching babies, and administrative experience having worked at the district level as an Assistant Maternal Child Health Officer. There, she trained and updated other health workers on important matters such as the risk factors of gestational diabetes. In this role she learned to work with a diverse group of people and how to efficiently engage with the community regarding health issues. It was in this role that she was introduced to Shanti Uganda. Sister Josephine became a key advisor while helping to set up the Birth House. After her retirement from government work, she saw an opportunity to go back to working with mothers in a more hands on way by passing on her skills to the next generation of midwives. When talking about why she wanted to work for Shanti, she notes the services and care we provide and says, “That is what I am.”

Sister Josephine doesn’t seem afraid to tackle any challenge she is faced with when it comes to her role as Head Midwife. The challenges facing maternal care are significant and she can’t help feeling emotional about the high mortality rate in Uganda, where 16 women die every day because of pregnancy related complications, “When we hear that it makes us sad.” Despite this she sees the hope in the work Shanti does. Josephine is most looking forward to building a strong team so that we can continue providing a safe and caring birthing environment to all mothers.

Our most recent addition to the team, Mukisa Winnie , is a recent graduate of Nyenga Nursing School in Jinja, Uganda. We are excited to have her youthful presence as part of our team and hope to see her grow in her experience and knowledge by learning from our seasoned midwives. The part of the job she loves the most is care for mothers during birth, which makes her both nervous and excited.

Having been born and raised in the Luwero district Winnie is already a friendly face to many of our staff and mothers that come to The Birth House. She is the youngest of a family of four children, where her Mom is also a midwife. Since her Mom is already sso well known in Luwero we have no doubt that soon Winnie will be too because of the kind hearted nature and trust women put in her.

 Shanti has always looked for staff that share our vision of providing safe mother-centered care. With the addition Winnie and Josephine we have no doubts about the quality of care our mothers will receive and we will continue to be a part of lowering the maternal mortality rate throughout Uganda. Thank you for making the work they do possible!

Thursdays are always busy days at the Birth House as mothers come to recieve antenatal care and check-ups for their babies. On this particular Thursday, the staff arrived early to get their headshots taken by a volunteer photographer who came from New York with his wife to attend our Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training. As the staff posed for a group photo they laughed, joked, and argued about who should stand where and what poses they should do. Sister Lule, with her serious nature stated, "I think we are finished". With decades of midwifery experience she takes her job and the Birth House seriously and is always seen keeping proper records and helping out new Moms. Some of the other midwives were happy to joke even Cissy who had worked a 12 hour night shift. The joy she has is contagious and if she was impatient to go home, it didn't show. 

By the time the photoshoot was over the mothers began to arrive for their check-ups with their new babies in tow. First they weight them to see how much they've grown since the last visit, which often turns into a social event with Moms talking about their babies and meeting as old friends. The sense of community is hard not to notice in Uganda with strangers constantly talking to one another and friends meeting by chance as they move about their regular day. 

Within view of these new babies swinging happily from the weight scale was a pregnant, soon to be Mom. It would be another few hours still until this Mom gave birth and as she waited she was supported by her mom, sister and husband. The woman freely moved from being on all fours to lying down as she progressed. Her partner hardly left her side as he anxiously awaited their new arrival.

This day also marked the last day of our ten day prenatal yoga training. As our new teachers arrived at the Birth House and set up their mats, another woman arrived with only enough time to put down her bag before she was whisked into the Birth Room to meet her new baby. Yoga classes were held on papyrus mats under the shade of the trees. The pregnant mothers coming from their appointment to take a spot in the next class. A sense of accomplishment was felt as our teachers from around the world bonded with these mothers by having them become their first students. 

In the evening we threw a party to celebrate the final day of the yoga training, complete with a bonfire and Ugandan feast. As our staff, interns, and visitors celebrated their time together a third woman gave birth to a beautiful baby boy over the sound of drumming and laughter. Our yoga retreat instructor, Bobby, had helped support this Mom throughout the day as she finished those last few hours of her pregnancy. 

At Shanti we can’t help think about how days like this would not be possible without support from donors like you. To many people this may have been an ordinary and uneventful day however, to these three women it marked the day they welcomed new life into this world. It is always a celebration as these babies arrive safely at the Birth House. On this day women became mothers just feet away from the bustle of an ordinary Thursday to us, but an extraordinary one to them.