Saving Lives at Birth; Maternal Health in Uganda

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead

It is one of my last days at the beautiful Shanti Uganda birth centre. Suzan, a first time mom-to-be, is labouring in the shade of the garden, surrounded by singing birds and the always shining Ugandan sun. I am so proud to see one of our passionate, skilled and committed midwives being with her and giving her some ideas about positions that can ease her labour. She is rubbing her back and helping her to breathe through the contractions. The words she said to Suzan were full of empowering and encouraging messages. Shanti is one of the rare maternity centers in Uganda where mother-centred and respectful care are part of the core values and mission.

In the 6 months I spent in Uganda, I was also working in a government hospital and was shocked about the conditions. There, it is common for the staff to be overworked and to have to work with a devastating lack of materials under miserable hygienic conditions. I have seen midwives shouting at women and slapping them during one of the most intimate and intense experiences in their life. I have seen women left alone in pain in the maternity ward, almost delivering on the floor. Women can't expect any privacy or respectful care during labour. According to the World’s Midwifery Report of 2014, a woman in sub-Saharan Africa is 100 times more likely to die during childbirth than in an industrialized country.

This is where Shanti makes a difference. The Teen Girls workshops and other programs that Shanti has created change the lives of women and girls in Uganda; giving them ideas about their rights and options and giving them the courage to articulate their thoughts and feelings. These projects have a great, long-lasting and sustainable impact on their lives and are vital because of the many challenges that women in Uganda have to face when it comes to pregnancy and birth. There are a wide variety of issues regarding access to health care, transport to a facility, the Ugandan health system, knowledge about pregnancy and birth related issues, nutrition, gender roles and, most importantly, skilled and trained birth attendants. Shanti is facing these many challenges by searching for solutions and responding to the real needs of people in the community. The midwives working at Shanti are blessed to have monthly trainings, helping them to provide the best maternal care possible. In my last week, I facilitated a training session about obstetric emergencies and neonatal resuscitation. It was a pleasure to share my knowledge with the midwives and see how interested and keen they are to learn more. All of our midwives are working together to accomplish the goal of having a healthy and happy mum and baby... and they are doing such a great job! I am so glad that a birth center like Shanti exists in a rural village in Uganda. I am thrilled to see how it is going to develop in the upcoming years, as Shanti continues the awesome work they do.