Rostico Akugizibwe, the in Charge Buseruka Health center III, says health officials in the sub county have embarked on a massive campaign to rally expectant mothers to deliver from health facilities.
Traditional Birth Attendants-TBAs are still
active in Hoima district despite the ban on their services by government in
2010.
Government outlawed the services of TBAs with
the hope of reducing maternal and infant mortality in the country.
According to health officials in the district, several expectant mothers opt
for services of TBAs as opposed to visiting health facilities run by trained
and skilled experts.
The
practice is common among expectant mothers in
rural areas in the oil-rich Buseruka, Bombo and Kigorobya Sub Counties.
Rostico
Akugizibwe, the in Charge Buseruka Health center III, says health officials in
the sub county have embarked on a massive campaign to rally expectant mothers
to deliver from health facilities.
He says before they launched the campaign in December last
year, they could receive only 25 expectant mothers in need of antenatal
services each month but the number has now increased to over 50 mothers.
Akugizibwe
says only a few TBAs can detect a problem early enough and refer an expectant mother
to a hospital for proper attention.
He says that by the time such mothers are brought to the
hospital, they are either dead or cannot survive surgery.
Akugizibwe cites
complications like when a mother delivers and in the process losses a lot of
blood or when the baby is lying in a wrong position.
//Cue in; ”We have as…
Cue out:…from health facilities.”//
Dr. Joseph Ruonga, the Hoima District Health Officer,
says all TBAs are operating illegally and must be arrested and prosecuted.
He says
there is need to develop a comprehensive strategy to increase the availability,
accessibility, and affordability of delivery care services in the district.
Jackline Tumusiime, a resident of Kyakaboga in Buseruka Sub County
says they are forced to embrace the services of TBAs due to lack of proper care
from skilled workers in the facilities. She says TBAs are more supportive and encouraging.
She
says some nurses in government facilities are too arrogant and harsh to the
extent of slapping expectant mothers more especially those in labour, which
forces them to abandon health facilities.
//Cue in;”Hati itwe nka…
Cue out:…Nuwe ara nyamba.”//
Jovia Nyamaizi, a resident of Kigorobya says at times men
fail to provide the necessary requirements like gloves and mama kits among
others.
She says mothers who turn up at government health facilities without
these requirements are turned away by nurses, which isn’t the case with TBAs.
//cue in;”Nyowe ndi mukyara…
Cue out:…turora ensau zaitu.”//
Joselyne Kabanyoro, a resident of Kiryamboga landing site in
Buseruka Sub County, says most expectant mothers are compelled to seek the
services of TBAs because they are within reach and found within their
communities unlike government facilities, which are located in distant places.
Ali Tinkamayire, the Buseruka Sub County LC 3 Chairperson,
says Health education strategies are required to increase community awareness
about the importance of seeking services from professional health care givers.
According to the Ministry of Health’s Reproductive, Maternal,
Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Sharpened Plan for Uganda 2016-2020, about
416,000 women are still not assisted by a skilled birth attendant.
Every day, 15 women die in Uganda from pregnancy and
childbirth-related causes, 94 babies are stillborn and 81 newborn babies
die. This brings the number to 69, 5701 deaths each year due to
complications during pregnancy, childbirth and in the first month.
Maternal health remains a serious global challenge in spite
of decades of advocacy and investments in improving access to maternal and
reproductive health.
